Wanganui--Unexpected

Backing up a bit. Monday was awesome. After class I spent the afternoon going down to Te Papa, then had lunch at McDonalds (which was surprisingly delicious), then went back out to the City and Sea Museum. I have to say, New Zealand knows how to make a museum. Then after Monday I was so sick I basically slept through the entire week.

Interesting wood structures area by the harbor

 This is at some government place. I just like the sail things.

 Harbor

 This is the best soda. I don't know why it uploaded in the middle of harbor pictures. 1.5 Liters. Win.

 That's the bridge with the locks.

 Macaroni bites (surprisingly not greasy) and green apple frozen sprite. It did taste like summer.

 Catching fire symbol on a rubbish bin

 Government area again

 City and Sea Museum
Now to Wanganui! Tomorrow is Wellington's birthday, so the area is celebrating. Wanganui celebrates by having a Vintage Weekend, which we were in town for. Wanganui reminds me of Santa Barbara, but cleaned up, slower, happier, nicer really. They may not have the ocean (which I think they do but I never saw it), but they definitely have a major river, the Whanganui River, and some mountains. Their main street, Victoria Street, had lovely flowers and signs and fountains. It was really quaint and nice. Clearly people go there to retire or do art. Everything closes at 4:30, except the dinner places which open about that time. In New Zealand the restaurants close in between meals. The kids seemed bored. But it was great as a visitor. The shops were unique. The people were friendly (or suddenly I pass as a New Zealander). The setting was beautiful. The food was good. Saturday is Market Day which is a huge deal for the town. I was expecting something similar to our farmer's market, but no. It was so much better. It was like the art show plus the farmers market put on steroids. It was worth the excitement. Everyone knew each other and everyone was so happy. I know it sounds like a place for old people, but even after expecting to go kayaking through rapids, I was disappointed to leave.

Double Decker Bus! The excitement was intense.

 This had a purpose involving a duck.

 Incredibly long passage to an elevator that goes through the mountain. It was built in 1919 or maybe 1913.

 Survived the elevator. There was a lady taking the money to ride it who is now old but has been doing it since she was young. It's amazing. At least minimum wage is 17 dollars an hour.

 Making faces. Also the winds were 36 mph.

 We climbed up to the top of the elevator tower.

 A monument to fallen soldiers. The "this is not an earthquake safe building" sign freaked me out more than it should've.

 Atop the elevator tower. It was so windy.

 The top of that monument. 372 ft above sea level. The wind made it so loud up there.

 Ice Cream Soda. Cream soda ice cream in lemonade. Delicious.

 Outside the museum. That's the gallery. They closed at 4:30 and we walked up at 4:28. We went on Sunday instead. They were great.

 Fudge, oh so delicious. Clockwise from pink: raspberry white chocolate, pepperment swirl, lemon & lime, creme brulee.

 Carmel Macadamia nut bar I bought at the Farmer's Market. It was so delicious. I also had two crepes. One was cheese, ham, and eggs. It was bland. The other was sugar & lemon. It wasn't as good as I thought it would be. Crepes, not my thing.

 They had random pianos outside this building.

 glass-blowing studio, there were actually 10 people down there, soon to be 13

 People on Victoria Ave. for vintage weekend

 4 week old puppy. Thought Summer would enjoy/be jealous. It's a Bichon Shitzu

 People singing for vintage weekend.

 People dancing to the above singing.

 Basically sour green apple soda. Pretty good.

 Ukulele orchestra.

 Pidezza, a Turkish pizza. It was bland. I also got really sick at 3 am after eating this. Either this or the beer tasting. Beer is gross and if the little bit I felt after drinking it is even similar to being drunk, I don't understand why people do it.

 Lime shake.

My paper weight I made glass blowing. I chose the most expensive color because gold is used to make pink.

And now to begin cramming for my exam Tuesday morning.