food – 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.

Tech Prep and Meet the VIPs

Nov 14 '11 Tagged with: AnimFX, food, Wellington

Nov 142011

The conference starts tomorrow, so even though I’m ready for my sessions most of the day was spent reworking slides and fretting.

After breakfast (with great coffee!) at Joe’s Garage and lunch on a decommissioned tug boat nee cafe, Sarah toured the Te Papa museum as a visitor, and I toured it as part of tech prep to check out the rooms and computer/display compatibilities. I had the pleasure of meeting Enrico Casarosa of Pixar, who will be presenting the Southern Hemisphere premiere of his short ‘La Luna’ on Tuesday.

Enrico Casarosa checking out the projection of "La Luna" in the theater at Te Papa.

It’s always comforting to walk though the spaces you’ll be presenting in beforehand, especially when it’s as well organized as the AnimFX and Te Papa teams are – everything plugged in and worked perfectly the first time.

In the evening there was a VIP dinner at the Museum Hotel’s Hippopotamus Restaurant. Fantastic food with fascinating people. I got to meet many of the other presenters and hosts.

VIP dinner at Hippopotamus. I wish I could have sat at both tables!

This was one of the astonishing options for dessert at Hippopotamus - a raspberry delight with almond macaroons.

AnimFX NZ – Master Class Day

Nov 16 '11 Tagged with: AnimFX, Carl, food, Wellington

Nov 162011

This was my big work day. I distilled my fifteen week Entrepreneurship in Entertainment Technology class down to a five hour Master Class.

Forty four people signed up for the class, all Kiwis, with a variety of backgrounds and experience from students to business owners to producers to representatives from NZ Trade and Enterprise. I had timed out the whole day on my notes and was right on schedule until about half way through. Utimately I ran long by about 15 minutes and sadly had to rush the last section. The people in the class made this a very enjoyable experience – I wasn’t nervous about having enough material (in fact I was throwing stuff out right up until yesterday), but I was a bit concerned about keeping everyone engaged though a five hour session. As it turned out we had a great dynamic – people shared their experiences, asked questions, and participated in some great discussions. I’m excited now about an opportunity to do this again, with obvious tuning based on today’s experience. And lemon and honey tea to fight off a subsequent day of hoarseness.

There were about 40 people in attendence, but I only remembered to take the picture after the class was over. These are most of the survivors.

While I was at the conference, Sarah was learning more about Wellington at the Wellington City Museum and the local shopping district.

We had dinner at Ambeli, an excellent restaurant recommended by my buddy Jeff. Thanks, Jeff!

Lamb chops at Ambeli

Poussin at Ambeli

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