Heading to Wellington

Sunday, March 14, 2010

On board the Interislander Ferry, Arahura (Pathway to Dawn)

We packed our bags and headed over to a open market for breakfast. We shared an omelet that had fresh tomatoes, onions, spinach, parsley, and cheese. The market was small and had vendors with fruit, veggies, baked goods, flowers and plants, and a variety of homemade products like jams and jellies.

Had enough time to tour Omaka Aviation Heritage Centre featuring the Knights of the Sky which are Peter Jackson (Lord of the Rings) private collection of planes of the Great War (WWI). Some were originals and others were copies of the originals. Since Jackson was involved, the detail of the scenes were amazing. Stories came to life in a theatrical way and captivated scenes depicting the aircraft in context, some recreating actual events. There was rare memorabilia and ranged from beautifully crafted “french art” to personal items belonging to the famous Red Baron himself.

There were many interesting aspects of how they fought from the air. They of course started bombing with hand grenades dropped from the plane. They also used lancets which were basically steel darts that when dropped 1500 feet they would go right through the body of a horse. They would sometimes drop them en masse.

One scene depicted a plane that crashed into a tree while several soldiers were looking on. The snow was actual soft, theatrical snow and not hardened plastic. The Red Baron Scene was terrific with the baron laying on the ground with a bloody face while soldiers stripped the German crosses from his plane and stole his famous fur boots as souvenirs. They determined a while after the war that he was actually killed by a lucky shot from an Aussie, probably from the ground. Outside we saw 2 WWII planes, a British spitfire and a bomber.

We then headed to Picton which was about 30 minutes away. We arrived and got in line to drive the car onto the ferry. We slowly made our way through the islands for about an hour and now are traveling over Cook Strait in the Pacific. We will land Wellington Harbor after 3 hours onboard. The first hour through the islands was slow and easy and we are now in moderate swells but it is fine once you sit down and do something.