Saturday..a beautiful day

We headed out of our cozy home around 9:30am and headed for a store called Mitre 10. It's comparable to Canadian Tire. We were in search of a patio set or swing set..apparently we're too early. Another month to wait until the seasonal stuff arrives. I tend to forget that it's winter here..J came home from school with a snowman craft the other day and I just didn't get it at first. Anyway..back to our day. Having been unsuccessful at that store we headed off for a little drive. Here are a few pictures B took. Look closely and you can see the downtown Wellington train station. It's not the prettiest thing to look at but the ocean and blue sky make up for it.

Continuing on our journey, we ended up downtown and headed to Te Papa Museum. It's free!! The museum is beautiful. My favorite was the Moari exhibit. I took many pictures. Unfortunately, pictures simply do them no justice. I tried my best. If we should be entertaining any Canadian guests, this is a must see.
Here's a photo of a stage where we listened to some live music played by a Latino Pacific Trio. Check out the beautiful carving work done around the stage. It's amazing!
We also got to see a traditional Maori hut called a Whare and a typical meeting room called a Wharenui. They were both exquisite.Here's a couple pictures of the Whares..unfortunately my hand was unsteady and I was unable to get a crisp photo of the meeting room. The detailing is spectacular.

At each section of the museum, their was a discovery corner for children. At the maori one, we played a very common children's stick game. As you play with the sticks, you are supposed to sing. I found the song rather morbid. I don't understand why they sing such a depressing song.

You begin with the sticks laying on the ground vertically in front of you.
You then pick them up in an upright position and tap the floor.
You bang your sticks together, in an upright position, in front of your chest.
After wards, you knock sticks with your parter who is mimicking your every move from accross you.
For the last step, you exchange sticks by tossing them(again in an upright position)diagonally accross to your partner simultaneously (left hand to left hand).
I believe you continue steps 1-5 until the song is over. Apparently it's very popular.
Here are those awful lyrics I mentioned. Why would you want children singing this?? Of course, this is the translated version. The children sang it in Maori.

Well, that was our excitement for the day...I hope you enjoyed the pics.
Cheers!