Pine.

It is now a little over a week since we returned from our inaptly named Wellington trip. I say inapt because we were actually staying in Lower Hutt (which is right next to Wellington, and almost like a section of it, but technically not the same city) in a Marae that was also a church. I know, I was confused too. This is the trip that is to replace the Samoa trip from here on out, and I actually think it’s a good change. So much of what we talk about here is settling down in one area so that we can become involved in the community as a part of it, and whisking us off to Samoa three weeks into the program sort of counteracted some of that. Lower Hutt is a lot closer to home, but is still large enough that we can talk about government structures and community partnerships. The week as a whole felt a little scattered, but those parts will begin to be sorted in the essays that we’re all writing for our Sustainable Community Development class, and in between there were some completely amazing times.

For the record, the national museum of New Zealand is extremely cool. And I’m not just saying that because I’ve been conditioned over the course of my life to have a very high museum tolerance. It is one of the most interactive I’ve ever been in, and it covers every single area of New Zealand culture and land. Which means that a lot of it is completely heartbreaking. There was a dimly lit room with dozens of birds that used to live here, but have died out because of hunting and invasive species and such. All their respective calls were sounding; it was incredibly surreal. One thing that I love about New Zealand bird guides: all of the recently extinct species are still listed with pictures and call descriptions and habits – everything you would need to identify them. That way, if they’re wrong and there is actually a small population of them out there somewhere, people will be able to identify them, and pass that information on to the people who can do something about it. I wish we were that hopeful with all our recently extinct animals. Then again, I hold onto the belief that the Tasmanian tigers are still out there. So maybe my opinion is biased.

In my time here, I have come to discover that there are others who can match my Lord of the Rings fandom. I know, I know, it seems a difficult task, but Kaitlyn and Jonny are as crazed about it as I. So when we found out we were going to be in Wellington (well, Lower Hutt, but close enough) for a week, we considered it negligent not to do at least a little bit of Tolkien tourism. With this in mind, we convinced a group to come to the Weta Cave with us on our day off. For those of you who don’t know, Weta Workshop and Weta Digital are the ones who are responsible for all of the effects in the Lord of the Rings. Every bit of armour and every piece of jewelry, every great hall and every flaming balrog spine was brought to you by their careful hands. The Weta Cave is a mini museum where they have some of the old effects displayed, and that is where we began our pilgrimage. I was crazily excited about it, and with The Actual Lurtz greeting us at the door, it did not disappoint. Next we went back to downtown Wellington, and the three fanatics (plus Darin, who is coming along nicely) hiked up some side streets to Mt. Victoria, where they filmed the hobbits on the outskirts of the shire during the Fellowship. We found the actual places where Frodo yells to get off the road, and the hobbits slide down a hill on their way to mushrooms. There may or may not be a reenactment of the latter somewhere in the depths of Jonny’s or my camera. But I wouldn’t know.

Now about this whole rugby thing:  you’ll all be glad to hear that, though the USA most certainly did not make the quarter finals, Clever and his team kept things relatively respectable. Anyway, when we found out that the USA was going to play Australia in Wellington while we were going to be there, we had to go. We knew they were going to get crushed, but it’s rugby, and we can’t help but love it. The surprising thing was how many US supporters were in the crowd – then we realized that they were all Kiwis who don’t really care who wins as long as it isn’t the Aussies. We made costumes, and painted our faces, and I’ve never felt so patriotic in my life as we stood belting out the national anthem in a stadium where that was a minority skill. The Eagles lost to the Wallabies 67 to 5, as expected, but we still had a fantastic time. Todd Clever did not play that night (sad day) but he was walking around on the sidelines before the match, so we waved and called to him like the adoring fans that we are, and he looked up at us, and waved back! Todd Clever waved at my little group of four American students! It was completely awesome. Rugby is an amazing sport, and if you’re ever at a loss as to what to say to a Kiwi, just mention how sad you are that Dan Carter is out for the rest of the cup because you’re not sure if Colin Slade can take the pressure and we really need Weepu as a halfback, and an instant bond of friendship will form. Go the All Blacks!