Well, that's us finished our grand tour of New Zealand's South Island and we're off, back up north, to spend the rest of our days here finishing exploring the North Island. We leave on a hot sunny day in Picton, and arrive in Wellington to be greeted by cold and wind. We were hoping it would be a lot better here but I guess it is 'Windy Wellington' so it's to be expected. Before journeying on further north out the city, we make a pit stop to visit the Weta Cave (Weta Workshops) which is a film effects studio based in the outskirts of Wellington. It was co-founded by Peter Jackson, director of Lord of the Rings, and all the props, modelling, makeup and visual effects for the movies were produced by the workshop. When we arrive, it's simply a small series of wooden buildings in a residential neighbourhood, very unassuming. We're not allowed to view the technicians and designers at work due to confidentiality reasons but we are invited to watch a film about the work they do and can see a few of the models that were made for the Lord of the Rings in their mini museum, including a life-size
Orokei and Gollum. They have costume designers, metalsmiths, leatherworkers, sculptors, animators and digital artworkers who all work to create the pieces for the films they're involved in- King Kong (animatronics of gorilla including facial expressions) Lord of the Rings (it took 7 1/2 years to produce all the props, models and costumes before filming commenced) Chronicles of Narnia series (armour and weapons plus props) and Master and Commander (pioneering water movement techniques in the ship fight scenes). To work there would be one of those dream jobs but with 1,000 applications every week, it's pretty doubtful!
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