Super Saturday
Today was a great day. E and J went to a friend's place in the morning and were going swimming at their friend's nan's pool in the afternoon. Talie was taking part in a survey, and getting paid to do it. So this morning at ten, N and I left by train for downtown. We held our breath through every tunnel. When we arrived, we went to check out the yachts that had arrived in Wellington to finish the 3rd leg of the Volvo Ocean Race. We got to see the ship, The Black Pearl, piloted by the Pirates of the Caribbean. Tomorrow they set sail for Rio. That'd be cool to see...but we had a pretty tiring day today so I'm not sure we'll be up to it.
After the yachts, we walked along the wharf looking for this park that was supposed to have a free music on but I wasn't sure where it was. We found something else to do instead. The Fringe festival has just started and they had organised Chalk the Walk. All along the wharf, chalk was set out for people to draw with. N and I found some chalk and set to work on our masterpieces. There are now three chalk tracings of N and a Canadian flag on the Wellington Wharf.
As we passed by Te Papa, N decided he wanted to go in. We went in the earthquake room which is always fun. We also saw a cool video called Golden Days which takes you through the history of New Zealand. Its really well done.
After the museum, we played and ate our lunch at the park. While at the park we received the call that Talie was making her way downtown. We slowly made our way to Frank Kitts Park to meet Talie, checking out the Greek Festival and the boats at the marina on the way.
We found eachother and sat down at the park to enjoy some music. The first "band" was some funky strange experimental music, with a guitar, piano, maori flute thing and a North American First People's flute thing. It was a bit too strange for me. During intermission, N entertained the crowd with his dope breakdancing moves.
This was followed by a cultural group from the Cook Islands. We had so much fun! They were amazing drummers and they led us in a song, where we had to clap and sing and dance and jump. Tons o' fun. It was great doing something with just N and Talie.
Talie and I were thirsty so we went for a beer at the Mac's brewhouse. They brew some excellent beer. Just as we'd finished our beer we heard drums...loud drums. We ran outside and caught up with a Carnival type parade. With drummers and dancers. Scantily clad dancers I should add. :) We walked and danced with the Brazilian drummers down the wharf. BOOM chaka boom chack BOOM chaka boom chack BOOM chaka boom chack chaka chaka chaka chacka BOOM chaka.... It was awesome. Then we met up with a group of dancer/drummers coming from the other way. They greeted eachother and the band master blew his whistle and got them all in line. Both groups of dancer/drummers paraded together and we followed...even cooler!
N fell asleep amidst the chaos.
We then had to pick up E and J from their play date. They both had an excellent time. Talie and I were so hyped from the parade we decided to go back downtown. The kids met some pirates...and E almost got taken away to scrub decks for the rest of his life.
We had supper at a super pizza place. We went to the rest of Latin beats, which was great. We got taught how to samba.
We saw the top salsa dancers in New Zealand...they incorporated a haka into their dance routine to the delight of the crowd. They kids danced and danced and danced the night away. 
We didn't get back until just before nine o'clock. I'm sure they'll sleep soundly tonight! Actually...so will I.
After the yachts, we walked along the wharf looking for this park that was supposed to have a free music on but I wasn't sure where it was. We found something else to do instead. The Fringe festival has just started and they had organised Chalk the Walk. All along the wharf, chalk was set out for people to draw with. N and I found some chalk and set to work on our masterpieces. There are now three chalk tracings of N and a Canadian flag on the Wellington Wharf.
As we passed by Te Papa, N decided he wanted to go in. We went in the earthquake room which is always fun. We also saw a cool video called Golden Days which takes you through the history of New Zealand. Its really well done.
After the museum, we played and ate our lunch at the park. While at the park we received the call that Talie was making her way downtown. We slowly made our way to Frank Kitts Park to meet Talie, checking out the Greek Festival and the boats at the marina on the way.
We found eachother and sat down at the park to enjoy some music. The first "band" was some funky strange experimental music, with a guitar, piano, maori flute thing and a North American First People's flute thing. It was a bit too strange for me. During intermission, N entertained the crowd with his dope breakdancing moves.
This was followed by a cultural group from the Cook Islands. We had so much fun! They were amazing drummers and they led us in a song, where we had to clap and sing and dance and jump. Tons o' fun. It was great doing something with just N and Talie.
Talie and I were thirsty so we went for a beer at the Mac's brewhouse. They brew some excellent beer. Just as we'd finished our beer we heard drums...loud drums. We ran outside and caught up with a Carnival type parade. With drummers and dancers. Scantily clad dancers I should add. :) We walked and danced with the Brazilian drummers down the wharf. BOOM chaka boom chack BOOM chaka boom chack BOOM chaka boom chack chaka chaka chaka chacka BOOM chaka.... It was awesome. Then we met up with a group of dancer/drummers coming from the other way. They greeted eachother and the band master blew his whistle and got them all in line. Both groups of dancer/drummers paraded together and we followed...even cooler!
N fell asleep amidst the chaos.
We then had to pick up E and J from their play date. They both had an excellent time. Talie and I were so hyped from the parade we decided to go back downtown. The kids met some pirates...and E almost got taken away to scrub decks for the rest of his life.
We had supper at a super pizza place. We went to the rest of Latin beats, which was great. We got taught how to samba.
We saw the top salsa dancers in New Zealand...they incorporated a haka into their dance routine to the delight of the crowd. They kids danced and danced and danced the night away. 
We didn't get back until just before nine o'clock. I'm sure they'll sleep soundly tonight! Actually...so will I.
Comments
Love,
Mom Pat
erin