Triple Works - The New Jeans World Tour
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Day 9:
What a day! We've had some small earthquakes during the weekend and the largest (6.5) struck this afternoon. The house felt like it was floating on a river so we're all pretty freaked out and still a little on edge.
On a brighter note, we spent the day walking around the Mt Crawford Prison situated on the Miramar peninsula just above where we live.
The Prison was built in 1927 and closed in 2012… people mostly walk their dogs here now.
My uncle worked at the prison in the 1980's so I use to hang out here in the weekends.
Four convicted murderers were hanged here, the last in 1935.
I don't know why they left the security cameras behind?
Prison mailboxes.
Looking northeast at Somes/Matiu and Mokopuna Islands. There is a very sad story of Kim Lee, a 56 year old Chinese man thought to have leprosy being sent to live in a cave on Mokopuna Island. He died in 1904, three months after arriving. Apparently, the Health Department paid the local lighthouse keeper to supply him with food. On fine days he'd row out with supplies and in rough weather he sent rice, hot soup and fruit on a flying fox.
Looking east at Eastbourne on the other side of Miramar. This is the entrace to the Wellington Harbour so there are old military forts and gun turretts along the coast originally built in the late 1880's in fear of a Russian attack and during WWII to hold off a Japanese invasion.
Looking southeast over Seatoun… that's a rich area!
Looking south over Miramar and Lyall Bay.
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What a day! We've had some small earthquakes during the weekend and the largest (6.5) struck this afternoon. The house felt like it was floating on a river so we're all pretty freaked out and still a little on edge.
Hope everythings calmed down and you're all feeling more settled now! Never experienced anything like this and I can imagine it must be pretty disconcerting.
Thanks for the awesome updates Hemi and all the previous contributors! I've just been through the whole tour with a cup of coffee and have really enjoyed seeing so many different settings, learning some of the history of those places and of course, seeing the ongoing evolution of the new TW jeans!
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Hey d00d,
They say we could get another 9 earthquakes during the week with the biggest shakes most likely to occur in next 24 hours. We've packed our emergency gear and will sleep in our clothes in case we have to leave quickly… unfortunately, we also live in a high Tsunami risk area.
Good work going through the entire thread... even I haven't done that!
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They say we could get another 9 earthquakes during the week with the biggest shakes most likely to occur in next 24 hours.
Damn! Well, as everyone else has said, stay safe sir! Hope your weather forecasters are as crap as ours in the UK and you get 9 quakes less than predicted!
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Day 10:
Thanks guy's, we're all safe and sound at the moment.
I went to work this morning to make sure everything was ok then came straight back home to be with my family. It was like a ghost town in the city and there is no serious damage but everyone is a bit jumpy. Wellington sits right on top of some major fault lines and we are due for a big earthquake which I hope never comes… I now have some small appreciation of what my good friend Ande Whall and the rest of the people of Christchurch are going through.
We went to the park on Oriental Bay Beach tonight just to get out of the house.
St Gerard's Monastery overlooking Oriental Bay since 1932… I'm tempted to go up there to have a word with the big man?
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Yeah Hemi, stay safe bro. You and the fam, been watching the news and reading
the paper.Peace
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Thanks guys, its great fun sharing our simple lives with you!
Day 11:
Nothing to report.
Day 12:
For some strange reason I decided to walk the 7km journey home from the central city tonight. I can follow the coastline all the way to my neighbourhood.
Te Papa is the home of our national museum and is situated on the cities waterfront. It opened in 1998 and took 4 years to complete. There was a hotel here first so they moved the 5 storey, 3500 tonne structure 120 meters down the road on a railway track… good old fashion Kiwi ingenuity!
Because Te Papa is built on reclaimed land they dropped 30 tonne weights 50,000 times to stabalise the site… I can still hear that great thumping sound!
The New Zealand flag… not to be confused with that other one.
We have a massive food market on this side of Te Papa every Sunday. You can get Chinese Dumplings & Fried Bread, NY Pizza, German Sausage, French Crepes, Coffee, Fresh Fish (straight off the boat), Organic/Free Range everything and heaps more.
Looking back at the city.
Getting further away.
I heard a strange noise coming from the drain under the road. I followed the pipe which exits into the ocean and found this little guy/girl? Its been years since I've walked around here but I remember there is a Penguin colony in the next bay… this is a Penguin isn't it?
I love this boat shed. We've been getting some really high tides lately and you can see its close to flooding the shed.
The Wind Wand on Evans Bay. The needle is 26m high and sways and bends with the wind… which is a lot in Wellington.
I had to admit defeat here and get Nina to pick me up... I need to get back in shape!
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Day 13:
Mother-In-Law duties so nothing to report.
Day 14:
You can probably tell that we spend a lot of time in and around the ocean, so after work I headed down to Lyall Bay for a surf… can you believe its winter?
On the way home I stopped at Wahine Memorial Park which is a tribute to one of our worst maritime diasters. In 1968 the Wahine hit Barrett Reef in the harbour entrance and had to be abandoned. 51 people died in the severe weather as a result of drowning, hypothermia or being smashed against the rocks. This bronze propeller is from the Wahine.
Wahine Memorial Park (Propellers to surfers) is also a great place to surf. You have to paddle out through a dangerous jagged rock keyhole to get out the back but the wave is awesome… as long as you don't fall!
Evening view from the Park.
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Day 15:
Wellington became New Zealand's capital city in 1865. The Maori name for Wellington is Te Upoko o te Ika a Maui - which means "the head of Maui's fish". This comes from the Maori legend that polynesian navigator Maui fished up the North Island.
I thought I'd share this great little video showing Wellington… what do you think? -
Speaking of Sk8 His, check this out:
http://tres-bien.com/brand/vans/og-sk8-hi-donald-true-blue
http://tres-bien.com/brand/vans/og-sk8-hi-mickey-square-classic-whiteSome part of me desperately wants em, even though I know I will look like a clown.
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Awesome, awesome tour updates, Hemi! You live in a beautiful place and I love your lifestyle. Plus the first Sk8 Hi is fantastic, still my favorite shoe.
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Thanks Max. New Zealand is beautiful and we're very fortunate to live here.
Day 20:
The "Wellington" windy sign sits on the hillside entrance to Miramar and is the first thing you see when landing at the Airport. Originally, The Wellington International Airport (owners of the land) wanted to put up a "Wellywood" sign in a tongue and cheek reference to our film industry. There was a massive public backlash so they held a competition and this piece of crap won.
This is what it's like landing at the Airport… Which is usually followed by "Praise Jesus, I'm alive!"The reason it's so windy here is that we lie right in the path of the roaring forties (the prevailing westerly winds). The central ranges deflect these winds through the narrow gap between the North and South islands known as the Cook Strait. As they get funnelled through this passage they get faster and stronger.