Art

One of the local artists of Island Bay is Michael McCormack.  We have grown to really love his work.  We see him in the studio near the bay on our walks, painting.  We also run into him at school since his daughter is in Evelyn's class.  His focus is regional art, looking at ordinary things through the lens of an artist.  As we get ready to leave, his work means more to me than ever.  He captures everyday moments and places I will really miss in Island Bay and Wellington.

You can check his work out here:

http://www.michaelmccormack.co.nz/indexb.htm

Seals and Red Rocks

 We went for a hike the other day, one we have taken many times.  This is the track to Sinclair Head which is along the Taputaranga Marine Reserve.  It's about a three-hour tramp.  Along this hike you can see seals, and the remains of a Maori Karaka grove.  This is evidence that they had a settlement in the area, probably a few hundred years ago.

To understand this placard, it helps to know that Ngati is the word loosly translated as "the offspring of" and is usually part of the title of an iwi or tribe, although they prefer the word nations.  Tribe is a word assigned to these groups by people of European descent and for them is not a precise or accurate understanding of their culture.  Maori do not see themselves as one people, but instead see many fiercely independent nations.  Their family groups are particularly important to them.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iwi
This text refers to the different Maori peoples that lived in this area.

 

 We saw many dozens of seals on this hike; this one was my favorite.  He was snoozing comfortably then took a stretch and discovered me out of the corner of his eye.  He was not too worried by my presence because he did go back to sleep.

At first it was a bit hard to see the seals.  They are the same flinty colors as the rocks and lichen around them.  But on closer inspection you could see them draped everywhere.

Another interesting section of the hike was the Red Rocks.  They are beautiful because of how startlingly different they are from the surrounding landscape.  These rocks have a story connected with them, one of the really important ones connected to the discovery of Aoteoroa, or Land of the Long White Cloud (New Zealand).  For those of you that may be interested in Maori legends, I have it here, quoted directly from Te Kete Ipurangi; the Maori, Myths and Legends website:

"Kupe and the Giant Wheke

Kupe was a angatira, a great fisherman who lived in Hawaiiki. Surrounding Kupe's settlement were the traditional fishing grounds where Kupe and his tribe caught their fish. When the moon and tides were right, the fishermen headed out to sea and always returned with waka laden with fish of all colours and sizes- gifts from Tangaroa and Hinemoana which the whole tribe celebrated. The people gathered at the shoreline to greet them when they returned, to divide the catch so that each whanau had an even share.

One morning when the fishermen lowered their lines at one of their favourite fishing grounds, they didn't get the expected tug on their lines. Instead, when they pulled their lines from the water, their bait had vanished. This continued through the morning and into the day, and not one fisherman caught a single fish. This had never happened before. Many of the tribe were upset when they returned. They secretly accused the fishermen of disrespecting Tangaroa and therefore causing their misfortune.

Once Kupe had considered the happenings of the day, a hui was called. The whole island gathered around the evening fire to discuss the fate of their village. Kupe firstly spoke of his respect for the sea, of Tangaroa and Hinemoana, and how they had sustained their village since time began. Kupe also spoke of the fishermen who had generously fed and looked after their tribe since he was a young man, and how respected they were within the whanau. He committed himself to finding out exactly what had happened.

Early the next morning, Kupe and the fishermen lowered their lines at their favourite fishing grounds only to have their bait taken as had happened the day before. Kupe tried reciting a karakia that would draw fish to his line, but when he pulled it from the depths of the ocean, his bait was gone.

Kupe noticed a slimy substance covering his hook and recognised it as belonging to an octopus. He knew it would be useless to continue fishing and ordered the others to pull their lines from the water. Once more they headed back to shore empty handed.

That evening Kupe set out to the other side of the island where a chief called Muturangi resided. Kupe knew that Muturangi had a pet octopus renowned for its huge size and influence in the sea world. Kupe described to Muturangi what had been happening at their fishing grounds, stating that it was the work of an octopus. He asked if perhaps Muturangi's pet could possibly know who was responsible.

Muturangi looked at Kupe and laughed, "I don't tell my pet when to eat or what to eat. If it chooses to eat your bait or your fish for that matter, then that's what it does." Muturangi asked Kupe to leave.

"Then I will slay your pet, Te Wheke o Muturangi, and it will never trouble my people again," Kupe stated as he left.

"Unless it kills you first," was Muturangi's reply.

Kupe gathered his people and began to build a canoe, a large ocean going canoe, which he called Matahorua. When the vessel was complete, Kupe stocked it with supplies, readying it for a lengthy sea journey. Kupe's wife, Hine-te-Aparangi, their whanau, and many warriors and fishermen from the tribe boarded the new canoe and set out on their journey.

Kupe gathered his people and began to build a canoe, a large ocean going canoe, which he called Matahorua. When the vessel was complete, Kupe stocked it with supplies, readying it for a lengthy sea journey. Kupe's wife, Hine-te-Aparangi, their whanau, and many warriors and fishermen from the tribe boarded the new canoe and set out on their journey.

Te Wheke o Muturangi's tentacles broke the surface of the water first searching blindly for food, each one of its arms much longer than Kupe's waka. A tentacle with huge suckers gripped onto the side of their waka, threatening to capsize it. Kupe grasped his mere and slashed at the tentacle, cutting a huge hunk from its flesh. The wheke thrashed its arms in agony but Kupe struck out again. Te Wheke o Muturangi's enormous head emerged from the sea looming over the waka, as the warriors continued to attack the huge tentacle. Kupe pointed his mere at the wheke and chanted a spell, ensuring it would never again be able to dive to the depths of the ocean and hide.

Te Wheke o Muturangi was forced to flee across the surface of the sea. Kupe ordered his warriors into their sailing positions and the chase was on. The chase continued for weeks, across the vast Pacific Ocean. Kupe was running out of supplies and still Te Wheke o Muturangi managed to keep a distance between them. Finally, one morning Hine-te-Aparangi saw a long cloud in the distance, a sign that land was near. Hine-te-Aparangi named the land, Aotearoa, land of the long white cloud.

Hine-te-Aparangi, Kupe, and the whole whānau were amazed by the beauty of the new land they discovered. The stories they'd known as children of Maui fishing a great land from the sea were true.

Kupe landed his waka on the east coast of Aotearoa. His people explored the new land and gathered much needed supplies. Kupe took his dog, Tauaru, across land to the Hokianga harbour. They left footprints in the soft clay while walking around the shoreline. Over many years the footprints turned to stone and have remained there to this day.

When Kupe returned, the pursuit resumed down the east coast of the North Island to Rangiwhakaoma (Castle Point), where Te Wheke o Muturangi sought refuge in a cave known as Te Ana o te Wheke o Muturangi.

Kupe realised the wheke was trapped, but because it was late in the evening, he decided to wait for dawn before launching an attack. During the night Te Wheke o Muturangi slipped, undetected, through the black water of the night and back out into the open sea.

Kupe continued the chase, down the east coast until arriving at a huge open harbour, Te Whanganui-ā-Tara ( Wellington Harbour). Kupe's whānau rested at the head of the fish, as Kupe and his warriors continued on the wheke's trail.

Kupe sailed into Te Moana o Raukawa (Cook Strait), a turbulent and potentially dangerous stretch of water between the North Island and South Island of Aotearoa. Knowing the turbulent waters would be an advantage to the wheke, Kupe chased it into the calmer waters of Totaranui (Queen Charlotte and Tory Sounds). Because of the many waterways and islands around those areas the pursuit continued for many days.

Kupe finally caught Te Wheke o Muturangi at the entrance to Te Moana o Raukawa from Totaranui, and the great sea battle began. The wheke lashed out with its huge tentacles at Kupe's canoe. Kupe and his warriors manoeuvred their canoe to avoid being overturned. Bracing himself with his legs, Kupe struck at the tentacles with his mere, but the giant wheke fought back, smashing another of its arms into the side of the canoe causing a huge gaping hole in the hull. Kupe threw a bundle of gourds overboard which the wheke mistook for a person and attacked. Kupe then jumped from his canoe onto the back of the giant wheke and struck a fatal blow to its head. Te Wheke o Muturangi was finally defeated.

The eyes of Te Wheke o Muturangi were placed on a rock nearby, which to this day is called Ngā Whatu (The Brothers).

During Kupes long absence, Hine-te-Aparangi and her whanau were worried that Kupe had been slain by Te Wheke o Muturangi and would never return. Matiu and Makaro, his two mokopuna, slashed their breasts with shells as a mark of mourning. Their blood stained the rocks where they stood. These rocks are near the entrance to Te Whanganui-ā-Tara harbour, and are now named Pariwhero (Red Rocks).

Kupe did return safely to his whanau at Te Whanganui-ā-Tara after successfully defeating Te Wheke o Muturangi. They all travelled further up the west coast of Te Ika a Maui (The North Island) naming many places as they went, finally settling in the Hokianga to replenish their supplies and to ready themselves for their return to Hawaiiki.

Te Wheke o Muturangi, which was thought of as a bad omen, had lead them to a new land they now called Aotearoa, a land Kupe knew future generations would call home."

TKI, Māori Myths, Legends and Contemporary stories, Kupe and the Giant Wheke, http://www.tki.org.nz/r/maori/nga_pakiwaitara/kupe/index_e.php

Toothless wonder

 

 

Evelyn lost her first tooth this week, and then in two days she promptly lost the second one.  The tooth fairy was so impressed she gave her a fiver.  Evelyn is over the moon.  A toothless wonder!  For those of you that may have been concerned, as Evelyn was, the tooth fairy can make it to New Zealand just fine.

The girls both were given goodbye parties and Julia went to her first school dance last night.  Evelyn is having a "space disco" today at noon.  And mom and dad are packing, packing.  A flurry of activity around here.

WETA

We finally made it to Weta Cave, a museum and store dedicated to the Weta Digital Company's triumphs.  The place is dripping with creatures at every turn.  It's located in the mostly residential Miramar neighborhood of Wellington.  This is a post for the people who hoped we would see lots of Lord of the Rings stuff while we were here.

Their symbolic creature and name refers to a New Zealand bug.  A creepy, scary, real insect that lives in back yards here.  Kind of like super-warrior grasshoppers?  Weta is the Maori name for them.  The full Maori name is "weta punga" which loosely translated means "god of ugly things."  You can learn more about these creepy crawlies here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weta

Lurtz from Lord of the Rings is waiting for you at the front door, along with some of the weapons forged for the same film.

Gollum is also there to greet you with a fishy offering.

The first part of the Cave is a museum of WETA's miniatures and other conceptual art that they used to prepare or make the movies they have been involved in.

This display case contains the chain mail and the chain mail making gun.  It describes the arduous process they went through to develop the varieties that have evolved over the years to build the most comfortable and realistic looking chain mail for film preferred by actors today.  This is plastic that is painted so well is looks real.  It is actually very light.

Here is more conceptual art, used in developing the character, Reepicheep, in the Narnia films.

This is material used in one of the earlier films they created called "The Feebles."

What I appreciated about their exhibit is you can really see how their abilities have grown, developed and changed over the years.

One of their recent projects is models of the Muppets.  They consider their models works of art because they are individually worked on in painstaking detail by sculptors.

The biggest feature at Weta Cave at the moment is TinTin.

But there are still some relics from other films.

There is a Children's Division of Weta,  called Pukeko Pictures.  They are currently working on a show called the WotWots which they initially lunched in 2009.  I haven't seen it, but it has won lots of parents awards for being so well done for the pre-school set.  They are also the creators of Jane and the Dragon series.

There was only one reference to Kong, but he definitely made his presence known in his corner.

I found the DO NOT TOUCH SIGNS amusing.  They all said, different things such as: "Do not touch or you will be decapitated." and things like that.

One of the most interesting parts of the trip was the film they showed to explain Weta Digital and what they do.  It is a very large and complex organization, requiring artistic specialists in many areas.  They have departments for sculpting, 3D modeling and printing, finishing and painting, moulding, miniature and model making. There is a foundry on site, and armor making specialists in addition to all of the computer art specialists that are part of the team.  Some are good with creatures, water and on and on.  There are several people in our ward that work for Weta and have loved it.


Julia thought it was pretty creepy.  Up until now she has been clamoring to see LOTR like some of her friends.  We have continued to ask her to wait.  When she is ready for the books and reads the books first, we think it will be a better time.  Her new opinion after visiting with Lurtz and Gollum? "I think I will wait!" 

Chef Evelyn

 Evelyn loves to cook and decided to make a hat to prove it.  She also made some Spinach Quiche the other day that was yummy.  Her favorite part was making shortbread cookies with the scraps of course.  Lots of sugar sprinkling is involved.  She is confident and happy in the kitchen and a great helper.  Cooking is one of her talents.

St. Mary of the Angels Choir

Evelyn and Julia have been singing every week with a choir in downtown Wellington.  It is the Angels Voices Choir, held at St. Mary of the Angels church.  It is one of the most gorgeous buildings in the city.

This has provided an opportunity for the kids to have an urban, central city experience.  We take the bus every week and get the feeling of getting around town. 

It also provides an ecumenical experience for them, and an opportunity to appreciate diversity.

The choir does sound ethereal in the building with sweet, pure voices rising and ringing to the top of the space.  They have loved it.

Some of the favorite songs have been "Scarborough Fair," "Panis Angelicus," "Hine, Hine," (a traditional Maori song) and Upside Down Cake (a new song by a New Zealand composer).  They have learned to sing in 5/8, Latin, Maori and in canon.  Both of them hum all day long and break into song.  They have loved singing.

The space is very open, bright and the stained glass is remarkable.

After the concert we went up into the choir loft and got a closer look at the glass detail. The ones up here are all musical.

I thought my dad would particularly like this piece.

There was even a harpist.

The organist showed us his instrument and let us watch the pipes shake while he played portions of a toccata.

It was AWESOME.  And LOUD!

Afterwards, we went down to "the crypt" to enjoy refreshments; mulled wine, juice, cheese and crackers, truffles.  A beautiful day.