coffee – New Zealand 2011

Acclimating in Wellington

Nov 13 '11 Tagged with: AnimFX, beer, Carl, church, coffee, food, Sarah, top of things, Wellington, Weta

Nov 132011

The first thing we learned upon arriving in Wellington is how good the coffee is. We had a bit of time to wait at the airport before Kim and Ray picked us up, so we grabbed some coffee at a shop by baggage claim. I was introduced to a ‘Flat White’, which is a Latte with a double shot of coffee in it, and it was excellent. This has become my new standard in NZ.

Kim is a friend of mine through the Visual Effects Society (VES), and is the reason I was invited to speak at AnimFX. She and Ray (both from Sauce FX) picked us up and gave us a driving tour of Weta on our way to the hotel. After hearing about Weta Digital for the first time when they were ramping up for “Lord of the Rings”, I’ve been following their work and rise to CG superpower. As is the case with so many effects and animation ‘shops,’ their humble exteriors hide the amazing work that is going on inside.

The Weta Cave - their retail shop

We checked into the Museum Hotel, right across from the Te Papa Tongarewa Museum where the conference will be happening.

View of the Te Papa Tongarewa Museum from our room at the Museum Hotel. The AnimFX conference is held at the Te Papa.

After lunch down the street and a walk through the Sunday farmers’ market, we boarded a bus tour of Wellington to help us get our bearings. We learned a bit about NZ politics (though it still remains somewhat cryptic to me), saw some wonderful historic architecture, drove along the Carmel-esque shoreline, and went to the top of things.

Wellington, from the top of the cable car

Old St. Paul's, a beautiful wood church in Wellington

Sarah, in Old St. Paul's

The view of Wellington from Mt. Victoria

We ended the day with a walk along the waterfront, stopping for drinks and a great dinner at Macs brewery.

I had a Macs Wheat Beer, while Sarah dreamt of sleeping

Chicken breast marinated in hard cider, with leeks, carrots and mushrooms. Yum.

Wellington to Napier

Nov 18 '11 Tagged with: coffee, drive, Hawke Bay, hotel, map, Napier, ocean, view, Wellington

Nov 182011

The morning started at CreativeHQ, a startup incubator in Wellington. I had met Alan Hucks, their Business Strategist, at an AnimFX event and was eager to learn more about them – I had referenced them as a local example of incubator spaces in my class but hadn’t met anyone there yet. Alan arranged for Kim and me to meet Steve O’Connor, CEO, and Tui Te Hau, Programme Manager, this morning. I learned a lot from them about the startup environment in NZ, and left very impressed with what they’re accomplishing and their future plans.

Wellington and AnimFX have been fantastic, but it’s time for Sarah and I to move on. We checked out of the Museum Hotel and drove to Napier – about a four or five hour drive. We stopped in Greytown for lunch (a bit mediocre) and Waipukurau for coffee and chocolate (excellent coffee, even at a roadside stand!). It was a beautiful but uneventful drive, with the exception of ten minutes of tropical style rain and stops for lunch and coffee.

View Wellington to Napier in a larger map

We checked into our hotel in Napier in a beach district that used to be the main port until the earthquake of 1931. (More on that tomorrow.)

The view from our hotel room across Hawke Bay

Hawke Bay Coastline, with its beautiful clear turquoise waters.

We walked along the old warehouses which are now becoming restaurants and had dinner at Speight’s Ale House. Very good food there, and I particularly enjoyed their Old Dark on tap.

Speight's Old Dark on tap

Napier to Whangamata

Nov 21 '11 Tagged with: coffee, cow, drive, food, map, mine, waterfall, Whangamata

Nov 212011

With 10 hours of sleep and a steaming pile of fruit laden pancakes for fuel, we hit the road for the long drive from Napier to our next stop at Brenton Lodge in Whangamata, at the north end of the Bay of Plenty. We stopped a few times along the way to eat, stretch and see a few sights. Here’s a direct transcription from my notebook (sorry, I print in all caps):

NORTH ON HWY 5 TOWARDS TAUPO. WINDY & WINDY OVER THE MTNS. STOPPED IN TARGAWERA FOR COFFEE. NOTICED WE HAVE < 1/3 TANK OF GAS, NEXT GAS IN TAUPO.
MADE IT TO MOBIL STATION IN TAUPO W/ LOW FUEL LIGHT ON. WHEW!
CONTINUED N TO TOKOROA FOR LUNCH (LAMB PIE!). THEN N. TO TE AROHA, STOPPING AT A WATERFALL AND MINE ALONG THE WAY. SARAH THOUGHT CALVES WERE CUTE. NOW SHE ONLY THINKS THE FRONT HALVES OF CALVES ARE CUTE. (There was an un-photographed incident that became a discussion topic for many miles to follow.)
COFFEE & COOKIES IN TE AROHA. (This part is accompanied by funky little drawing of plate with a big cookie and a little cookie on it.) WAITRESS: “YOU CAN FIGHT OVER THE BIG COOKIE.” SARAH: “NO NEED TO FIGHT. I’LL JUST TAKE THE BIG ONE.”

Lamb Pie!

Cow #13

Windblown Wairere Falls. The wind was whipping so much at times that the water was blown right off the falls.

This structure is what remains of a rock crusher from an old mine in Waiorongomai Valley, NZ. The artwork is new.

The Karangahake Gorge was stunning, we wish we had taken some time to hike around in there. We’re adding it to the to-do list for another trip.

We arrived at Brenton Lodge around 5:30pm. The owners, David and Sallie, greeted us and showed us around and to our room. They have a beautiful B&B on the hill overlooking the bay. We didn’t know that dinner was an option there, too, but luckily were able to get in under the wire for reservations that evening. Sallie prepared a fantastic meal of smoked salmon salad, lamb chops with potato, and a delightful pannacotta with strawberries for desert. If you EVER go to the Bay of Plenty you have to stay with them – the place is beautiful, the rooms are very private, it is quiet and relaxing, and David and Sallie are two of the nicest people we’ve met (which is significant given how wonderful everyone has been).

Sallie's delicious pannacotta with berries.

Here’s a map of the drive we made today:

View Napier to Whangamata in a larger map

Bay of Plenty to Bay of Islands

Nov 23 '11 Tagged with: Auckland, Bay of Islands, Bay of Plenty, Carl, coffee, drive, map, Paihia, Sarah, Whangamata

Nov 232011

Wednesday was another long day of driving in our quest to travel the length of the north island from Wellington to the the top of NZ at Cape Reigna lighthouse. We travelled from Whangamata on the Bay of Plenty, up Highway 25, across to Highway 1, through Auckland all the way north to Paihia on the Bay of Islands. We estimated it would be about a five hour drive; it took seven including stops for gas, lunch, coffee and a bit of casual sightseeing along the way. This wasn’t a particularly visual day, it started on the coast, through the hills working our way to farmland, then through the city, back to farmland and through the hills back to the coast. It was like this:

The Drive from Bay of Plenty to Bay of Islands, NZ

The drive from Bay of Plenty to Bay of Islands, via Auckland.

Once we arrived in the Bay of Islands though, it was beautiful. We checked into our hotel with a beautiful beach view from the second floor, relaxed on the balcony for awhile, then went into town for a nice dinner. After dinner we walked through the whole town: all four blocks.

The view from our hotel room in Paihia of the Bay of Islands.

Dinner in Paihia

Today’s adventure:

View Bay of Plenty to Bay of Islands in a larger map