India 3 – Amritsar – Golden Temple and Border Ceremony

One of the highlights of our trip to India was seeing The Golden Temple in Amritsar. Amritsar is the center of Sikhism, and the Harmabdir Sahib (aka the Golden Temple) is the holiest shrine in Sikhism. It is the chief pilgrimage destination of the Sikhs living abroad and outside the city. Amritsar is the heart of the state of Punjab and the second largest city in Punjab housing 1.4 million people located in Northern India. There are more than 150,000 visitors who come to worship daily.

We visited both at sunset and again the following sunrise, hoping to capture some quieter moments. We often target our destination visits during the golden hour and the Blue Hour, to capture the best light. The Golden Hour is the hour after sunrise and before sundown, while the Blue Hour is a bit before sunrise and after sunset (so called caused because the sky turns into a deep blue to the camera).

It is a long way to walk before reaching the Sikh complex. We had to take a tuk tuk from our bus to the boundary of the town, then walk through the town. It is quite crowded on the streets, before you reach the entrance of the Golden Tempe. Once you reach the Temple, neither socks nor shoes are allowed due to the religion’s requirement of purification and sanitation. The water through which you must walk bare-foot is cold and slimy, and the marble slippery. As such, westerners like us pause before stepping across the threshold. After passing through the purification pool, you must walk barefoot directly on the cold marble or the walking mats for the remainder to your time in the temple. If you are not accustomed to walking on hard, cold marble, your feet will tell you the next day

Once inside the temple grounds, we walked the circumference of the pool to get our bearings and decide which would provide the best night-time angles. The complex is quite large, and the block of images above are only a portion of the images we captured after the sun went down and the lights went on.

Right around 6:30 pm, the building lights are slowly turned on, and the complex slowly lights up, until you see mesmerizing building reflections on the pond. It seems surreal, especially against a dark, blue sky. The pond in front of the Golden Temple is called Amrit Samovar, or the Pool of Nectar Immortality.

There are security guards all dressed in blue with their javelins (top-left) who appreciated posing for the tourists around the temple.

We returned the following morning to capture images without as many people in the scene. The Sikh religion prides itself on community service, and one of its most visible works is feeding the poor every day. Anyone can walk in and ask for a free meal, regardless of your origin or religious beliefs. We first stopped in their community kitchen to watch them cook these meals and hand them out to anyone who asked. It was raining when we left the community kitchen to watch the cleansing ritual, and the tile was extremely slippery, especially around the bathing area.

Devotees dip into the holy manmade pool known as Amrit Sarovar, and the water is believed to have healing powers. Women come in fully clothed, whereas men don bathing shorts and robes. Many also hold a heavy chain to lower themselves into the water. The turbans above are decked out with a small machete on top. This Sikhs welcome women as well as outsiders to bathe in the pool.

Anyone can take a dip in Samovar (pool of nectar), but the use of soap and shampoo is prohibited as is swimming. Before entering the Temple, an important step is washing your feet to keep the floors clean.

Pilgrams come to pray at the holy shrine 24/7, and many sit along the edge of the pond to pray and meditate. After 3:00 AM, the crowds have dissipated. This is a spiritual pilgrimage site, holy and pure, and in the early morning hours, the reflections of the buildings and energy are incredible. A note that the Temple is built with marble but plated with real gold.

Every day is a colorful, boisterous ceremony of the changing of the guards at the border crossing between India and Pakistan, called Atari-Wagah Border Ceremony. Just before sunset there is a blustery parade by Border Security Forces from both countries, which ends with the lowering of the flags for both sides. It feels like watching a finale at a high school football game, with both sides cheering. Even the cheer-leading patrol soldiers get into it by high stepping then leading the crowds to chants.

The Indian crowds can be seen in the left column, while the right column includes a few images of the military that was keeping order in our part of the stands (where the foreigners received premium seating).

The Changing of the Guard is a highly choreographed event held daily by both the Indian and Pakistani armies on their sides of the border gate. Though our seats were considered premium, it was actually hard to see much of what was going on, due to the copious security fences places around the parade grounds.

Both sides emphasized much high-stepping marching, with the solder’s foot reaching all the way to his nose. We could barely see through the Pakistani side, though a small gap in the security gate allowed the image of their building (top-middle), The Pakistani also had a one-legged person doing some whirling dervish dancing, though we were barely able to see it from our side (top-left).

In essence, there were no photo taking opportunity like the event documentation we saw on YouTube, which was clearly shot from the stands above. That excellent view of the events was blocked off and only only available to military VIPs.

The audience was boisterous through the entire event. Many of them showed their patriotism by painting Indian flags on their faces.

Attari-Wagah Border Ceremony at the India/Pakistan border , also called Beating Retreat border ceremony. Because of crowd control, we were not able to move away from our assigned seats, but this video hopefully can show the atmosphere of the ceremony.

India 2 – Old Dehli

The sounds of honking motorbikes, tuk tuks (auto rickshaws), and cars were incessant in Old Dehli. We were told that if a vehicle honks its horn and there’s an accident, then the driver is not at fault, since he warned the other person. People say to the other party that they’re sorry and move on or simply hit and run. The traffic was chaotic, and it’s a wonder why there are not more collisions and incidences with serious injuries. Many times, we were gently pushed aside while walking down the alleys as two tuks tuks were trying to get by from opposite directions down alleys meant for only one vehicle. Of course, the motorbikes simply went in-between both. See video clip below for a sense of the traffic.

Old Dehli is the most historic part of Dehli, while New Dehli was designed by the British during colonial times. Old Dehli officially became New Dehli on 13 February 1931. The British destroyed membrances of the old moghal past by destroying mosques, gardens and other historic features during its rule.

Dehli was destroyed 7 times through its history. However you can still see parts of the walled city and the fort. The older part of Dehli is quite colorful and photogenic. Just don’t get caught in the line of rickshaws carrying 72 tourists from Trump supporters coming the opposite direction! (yes, they came through as a caravan of 36 tuk-tuks, totally bringing all traffic in the narrow alleys to a standstill)

There are many street food eateries to try out — if you have the nerve to do so. We took a street food tour on an earlier visit to India in 2019 and were assured at the time that each eatery had been vetted, and sanitized.

Some of the alleys had so many electric lines running above ground, that it was a photographic moment (upper-left). You can still see people getting their ears cleaned (center) and haircuts in public view.

A note– India has just surpassed China as the most populous country, now exceeding 1.4 billion people. Though India is 3 times smaller than the US, it has more than 4 times the number of people (1.4 billion vs 337 million). It is difficult to create enough jobs for all the young people entering the work force. India has done an amazing job of economic growth in the past couple decades, but if jobs cannot be created fast enough for this new generation, trouble is likely on the horizon.

There are signs everywhere stating no videos or photography is allowed at the Sikh temple. Apparently, instagramers have been posting videos with the reliqious buildings in the backgrounds and there has been a backlash against disrespecting of the religious site. After listening to a brief lecture on the Sikh religion, the Sikh leader told us that it was acceptable for us to photograph if we were praying, which explains the poses above. We were required to cover our hair and to wear neither socks nor shoes. Others in our group included Mehmet (upper-right), and Pansi with Tim (middle-right).

View a quick 60 second segment showing the traffic chaos along the streets of New Delhi. Believe it or not, actually being there feels far more chaotic than the video can communicate! (This video looks better if you click the “watch on YouTube” link in lower-left)

India 1 – New Dehli

In 2019, we passed through Dehli, enroute to the Holi Festival. At that time, we stayed in the Old City and took a culinary tour tasting the Indian Street foods at hole in the wall eateries where much of the food was deep fried. On this current photographic scouting tour with Mehmet and his Fantastic Photo Tours, we had a chance to explore a number of other landmarks in Dehli. Humayum’s Tomb, a mausaleum belonging to Isa Khan, and a mosque with an ancient minaret where the women in pink was gracious to pose walking between the columns.

We had a chance to explore the Jama Mosque, seen above. It was fun photographing the Indian people as they welcomed us taking their photos. The family brought bird seeds to feed the pigeons, and the mom asked if we could photograph her and her 3 kids (upper right). At the mosque, we were required to take off both shoes and socks, so walking on the pebbly hard kernels of corn and bird seed ached. Capturing shadows across archways (upper left) and capturing reflections (top-middle) enhanced the experience.

Before sunset, we photographed the Sikh temple known as Gurdwara Bangla Sahib. Sikhism, which has influences from Hinduism, became a separate religion 500 years ago. Only a small portion of the Sikh live in Dehli with the majority living in Punjab. What is special about the Sikh is their generosity and universal acceptance of all humanity, regardless of religion or lack of religious belief.

At the Blue Hour (an hour after sunset), we had a chance to photograph the India Gate (to commemorate fallen British soldiers from 1914-1919). There is also a canopy where the statue of King George V, a deceased Emperor of India, is on display. As with many national monuments, there are rules about not allowing photographers to use their tripods. Part of being on scouting tours is that the rules aren’t known until a government official chews you out. On this long day, we ended with more than 25,000 steps and we were sore the following day.

Tokyo 3 – Jellyfish, Buddhist Temple, Vending Machines

After watching the sumo wrestler’s training session, we visited the Sumida Aquarium in Oshiage, located on the 5th and 6th floor of the Tokyo Skytree. We almost skipped this aquarium as we couldn’t find the entry from inside the Skytree building. It turns out you can only enter from an outside courtyard, but there were no directional signs we could understand. We’re glad we made the extra effort, as it is a beautiful medium-size aquarium with a wonderful display of jellyfish. What is unique is the use of artificial sea water (instead of transporting ocean salt water) making it easier to maintain the aquarium.

The aquarium also has a surface pool with jellyfish. Burt is having fun photographing the pool (top middle).

We also enjoyed seeing the 50+ Magellanic penguins, turtles and other amphibians. At feeding time, the penguins line up for their meals.

We watched tourists riding the old fashion rickshaws touring the Asakusa district and posing for their shots in front of the Tokyo Skytower. We also went bar hopping in Shinjuku, and Burt even sang an Earth, Wind and Fire song at a Karaoke bar, all part of celebrating his birthday (and trust me… you do NOT want to hear a recording of it !). All it takes are glasses of Sake to get into the mood to celebrate.

The Asakusa Sensoji Temple is one of the most visited sites in Tokyo. This is Tokyo’s oldest Buddhist temple. Although touristy, the architecture is quite intricate and you get a chance to meander through the shopping street filled with eateries, crafts, shops. There are various rituals required before entering the temple, including getting a fortune(op left), and cleansing routines, such as spreading smoke from burning incense(top right) or water.

We toured various Buddhist temples in the Yanaka Ginza neighborhoods. It was raining the entire period we were in Tokyo, sprinkled with a few hours of sunshine. The air always felt clean, but we were wearing our thermal underwear in this unseasonably cold stretch. In Japan, we always felt safe and there was the sense of politeness, calm, elegance and friendliness we love about Japan. There was no trash, no graffiti, no homeless. We plan to return and explore other parts of Japan.

In Tokyo vending machines are everywhere, including at bus and metro stops, in apartment buildings, in the middle of parking lots, in public parks, office buildings. They are prolific. You can find vending machines for snacks, soft drinks, coffee, water, tea, beer. You can use your credit card everywhere. Even at the airports, the scan machines are efficient, with face recognition.

The jellyfish display at the Skytower Aquarium was a delight.

Before entering a temple, one is required to cleanse themselves. One option is to use smoke from the burning incense to clean; another option is to use water.

Tokyo 2 – Tuna Auction and Fish Market

A fun part of traveling is finding great places to eat. We really enjoyed our meals in Tokyo, not only for its freshness in ingredients, but also for the unique types of food. For one birthday meal, Burt selected eel for lunch. Then for another meal, we were shown some of the best sushi restaurants right at the Toyusa Fish Market Auction area. We experienced the best grilled octopus ever, that practically melted in our mouths instead of being chewie. The best surprise was tasting the wagyu beef, which is considered Japan’s national living treasure. The genetics of the Wagyu cow yielded one of the best beefs in the world, and comes in multiple grades, including the chautebriand level we tasted, which is one level below the Kobe beef. It has the right fat marbling content, which simply melted in our mouths. We understand that even Hawaii sends its cattle to Japan to process.

One interesting cultural bit is that almost all restaurants have plastic replicas of their meals displayed in the window. The images above are of a few of these plastic meals. They allow the customer to see how the food will be served before they even enter the restaurant. For non-Japanese speakers, it allows people like us to just point to the meal we want to order.

The Tsukiji Fish Market was a delight to explore though it was totally packed with both tourists and locals. There were lots of small eateries that served everything from fresh oyster chucking, fresh shell fish, fried scallops. You could snack your way across the market (as we did), or take home fresh ingredients.

Every day, the Toyosu Market tuna auction is conducted between 5:00-6:30 AM for wholesalers, and within an hour, all the fresh and frozen tuna are sold out. Each tuna is sold within 90 seconds at auction, and all bids are conducted with hand signals. The largest consumers of tuna are in the US and Japan.

Toward the end of the auction, the higher valued Bluefin tuna are bid, and on Jan 5, 2024, the bid went up to 114 million yen ($775,000), which was three times higher than any previous sale. It is common for sales to reach 3 Million yen ($20,000) for a single bluefin tuna fish. Toward the end of the auction, local restaurants can come in to bid the runts for less money. Visitors are only allowed to view through glass from the second floor (which is where these photos were taken).

There are many other wholesale food sold at the same market, including fresh fruits and vegetables. The entire warehouse is massive, and it is hard to imagine how much food is stored there, but it is all sold each morning, leaving nothing but empty boxes by noon.

There are knife sharpening specialists where all the top chefs in major Japanese restaurants bring their knives to sharpen (top-right and lower-right). Evelyn and Burt are poised in front of the restaurant whose owner sold a Bluefin Tuna for 3 Million yen, or $20,000 (center).

Some species of the adult Bluefin tuna is becoming critically endangered. About 80% of the caught bluefin tuna are consumed in Japan. The bluefin tuna is known for its rich buttery texture and succulent flavor and sought after in high end restaurants worldwide. Bluefin tuna can live up to 40 years and migrate across all oceans.

Tokyo 1 – Sumo, Old Town, Skyline

Enroute to India, there was a one stop with an 18-hour layover in Tokyo going across the Pacific Ocean, or a multi-stop route from HNL-LAX-JFK-DEL across the Atlantic Ocean. Each route took more than 30 hours. Since it was Burt’s birthday, we decided to celebrate by laying over and exploring Tokyo. We’ve fallen in love with Japan after spending only 4 days in Tokyo.

The first stop on Burt’s birthday was to watch a sumo wrestling training session in an authentic Sumo Stable in Oshiage. Sumo is Japan’s national sport and a form of martial arts. The training is quite rigorous. It starts early in the morning, follows a set of rituals, a complex set of behavior, and intense exercise routines. There are also matches, which are fought within a 15′ circle. The winner either pushes his opponent out of the ring, or forces an opponent to have any part of his body other than his feet touch the ground.

We had envisioned all sumo wrestlers weighing more than 300 pounds and being quite obese. Though sumo wrestlers eat more than 7000 calories a day, they have low cholesterol levels, don’t suffer from heart attacks, strokes or other typical signs of obesity. The owner of this stable (bottom right), was ranked no. 2 in the top division, yet he is quite slender. The man who won many of the practice sessions we watched was also quite muscular and thin (upper-right and middle). There are no weight classes in sumo, unlike boxing. The strongest wins, no matter what his weight, and can easily be paired off against someone many times his size.

There are 6 divisions in sumo, with ranking determined solely by their win-loss record. Sumo wrestlers start training at age of 15 and retire by the age of 30. There are 6 tournaments a year, on every odd month, and the number of wins in these matches determine the ranking. There are 44 sumo stables in Tokyo, and 800 professional sumo wrestlers worldwide.

For Burt’s birthday week, we also explored the historic side of Tokyo in the charming neighborhood Yanaka Ginza. It is filled with many tiny shops and eateries, shrines, and alleys, and has much character. This area is also known for their cats, and a great place to shop for souvenirs and great place for a coffee or tea stop.

We were impressed how clean the city was. We did not see trash on the ground, nor any graffiti, There are no public trash cans, and it is expected that “if you can carry it full, then you can carry it back home empty.” Everything was well maintained.

Whenever we travel to a major city, we enjoy going on walking tours. To explore Tokyo, we found a group of locals who created some unique itineraries, including this tour of Yanaka.

It was surprising to us how little English was written or spoken around Tokyo. Even the names of bus stops, metro lines are all written in Japanese Kanji characters. We were able to get around with Google Translate though, even giving directions from Google Map to the taxi drivers.

On our walking tour of the older part of Tokyo, we stopped at this shrine and cemetery (right column).

This is a view of the Tokyo Skytree from our hotel bathroom (yes, the hotel boasts of its view of the tower from the bathroom!). The lighting of the radio tower changes color during the night.

We were shocked to find how cold it was in Tokyo at this time of year. It rained every day and the forecast was for snow one day when we visited, which is why the left image above is shrouded in mist from the rain of the first night. Fortunately there was one clear night, which allowed us to capture the other two images of the tower.

The main bedroom of our hotel provided a view of the city skyline and the main elevated road below. Downtown is filled with high rise buildings and traffic can get quite congested.

The 96 second video shows some of the routines from the intense 2-1/2 hour practice session at an authentic sumo wrestling stable.

Hawaii 2 – Volcanoes and Stargazing

Sunset at Mauna Kea, across the road from the Visitor’s Center. At 9200 feet, the cloud layer is below us, so you often can get a clear view of the sun setting. The road to the summit was closed again (this was our second attempt at going there), so we settled with this view.

View of the Kilauea Volcano at Volcano National Park. Many times, we were only 50′ from the rim yet could not see the crater due to the terrible weather. Our friend, Kris, recommended staying at the Volcano House, located right at the rim of the Kilauea volcano, which last erupted from September 10-16, 2023. Both Mauna Loa and Kilauea tends to erupt every 2-3 years, whereas Mauna Kea is dormant. We saw how quickly the landscape changed over a short period of time from clear skies to thick fog.

Our favorite sunset was at Lava Lava Beach Club in Waikoloa Village where the cloud formations enhanced the sunset. We witnessed a marriage proposal (she said yes!) and found turtles on the lava rock beach.

In downtown Hilo, we walked past the huge Banyan Tree (middle). Banyan trees are not native to Hawaii, but were brought by missionaries from India in 1873. They have now been established as common and symbolic feature in Hawaii. Hilo is also the capital of Hawaii County and the oldest city in the Hawaiian Islands. We drove to the viewpoint at Pololū Valley Lookout, which is the end of the road near Waimea (center bottom).

Finally, we were able to enjoy a sunset with color. Twice in the past week, we reached the Mauna Kea Summit Visitor’s Center only to find that the road to the summit was closed due to ice or wind.Two days prior to these images, the wind exceeded 100 mph. As a backup plan, our guide showed us where we could watch the sunset across the road from the Mauna Kea Visitors Center to get an unobstructed view of the sun setting. A large crowd descended from the hill right after the sun set (right middle). At 9,200′ elevation, this is typically above the clouds, and therefore good for sunset and sunrise. In 2023, tours to the summit closed for 4 months due to adverse weather conditions. Enroute from Hilo, we also stopped at Rainbow Falls (middle-left).

It’s hard to believe that you can use an iPhone to shoot photos of the stars and us in a single frame. Near Mauna Kea summit, we did some stargazing in one of the few areas in Hawaii with little light pollution.

“The County of Hawaii has one of the strictest dark sky ordinances in the world. Outdoor lighting on the Big Island of Hawaii is not allowed to have more than 2% Blue Light Content, which makes the Big Island an ideal location for star gazing.

Mauna Kea is located on the Big Island of Hawaii provides some of the most astounding stargazing and provides a clear view of the constellations, and some of the largest observatories are located here. We will return one summer when the core of the Milky Way is visible.

Hawaii 1 – Celebration and Hilo

Sunset at the Lava Lava Beach Club in Waikoloa Village, Hawaii (above). The last time we were on the Big Island was over 50 years ago, so it was interesting to see the changes. There were a lot more resort communities and restaurants. Saddle Road, formerly a dirt road connecting Kailua-Kona with Hilo has transformed into a scenic asphalt highway. Kona Village was wiped out in the 2011 Japan earthquake Tsunami, and has been rebuilt, so most of the buildings in the Kona side were new to us.

Jenna and Mark (Evelyn’s sister’s son) held a wedding reception at Kohala Village Inn in Hawi, near the home of Jenna’s parents. Jenna’s brother, Kaid (bottom left) has a Taiko group who performed at the celebration, As always, there was way too much food, which is a tradition with Hawaiian gatherings. Pauline and Keith (top middle) are Mark’s proud parents.

Officially, our nephew and his bride (center) married on May 4, 2023 in San Diego. Her parents brought together their family and many friends who were part of Jenna’s upbringing to celebrate their wedding on the The Big Island. Everyone is thrilled Mark and Jenna have joined together. There were no champagne flutes on the Big Island (due to the recent New Year’s Eve celebrations), so our friend Alla found them in Oahu (top right), and we brought them over in carry-on for the flight.

Pauline, Evelyn’s sister, organized a Kona Food Walking Tour for the family. We saw the hotel where John Wayne had his honeymoon, learned about Kona’s vibrant past, and tasted typical Hawaiian foods and drinks at Kona’s top restaurants and gems in Kona. The clam chowder was our favorite. In another life, Evelyn had her own boutique (lower left).

Hilton Waikoloa Village Resort was a beautiful place to explore, complete with a dolphin quest, canal boats, 14 restaurants, a tram, pools, water slides and lots of sculptures with an Asian theme.

There were many colorful murals around downtown Hilo, where centuries-old wooden buildings are listed in the National Register of Historic Places. On our walks in old town to check out restaurants, shops, galleries, and the Tsunami Museum, we walked past many murals and found Hilo to be a very walkable neighborhood. Downtown Hilo is the wettest city in the USA with 142″ of annual rainfall. Waikoloa gets 9″ and Kailua-Kona has 27″ of rain, in contrast. Of course, the rainy season is from November through March, so we saw rain most days.

Sunset at Lava Lava Beach in Waikoloa Village, Hawaii.

New Zealand 9 — Auckland and New Year’s Eve

This year we celebrated New Year’s Eve in Auckland at the iconic Sky Tower, in the rain. The 328 meter high tower lighting kept changing colors during the hour preceding midnight. Then there was the 10-second countdown. When we reached 2024, the cold fireworks emerged from the tower with a 5 minute spectacle of fireworks (yes, 5 minutes… a whole lot less than we were expecting…). There is a New Zealand law that says you can only buy fireworks between November 2-5 each year. Possibly as a result, there were very few neighborhoods shooting off rockets. Our taxi driver mentioned that New Zealanders are not much into fireworks, but there are many private parties at the local bars.

We had dinner at the Sky Tower restaurant on top of this tower, which revolves every 45 minutes. Our waiter told us there are 53 volcanos and landmarks you can spot while dining, as the restaurant turns.

Earlier on our trip, we also spent several days in Napier, where Burt tried to catch up on his photo editing. Unfortunately, the internet at the hotel was so poor that he was not able to do any blog work. Regardless, we really enjoyed exploring the Art Deco capital of New Zealand, the Port of Napier, and the local aquarium. We especially enjoyed eating at the many fine restaurants in West Quay area and seeing the colorful sunset there.

On our last day in Auckland, we visited the 40-acre Auckland Zoo, which houses some 130 species, many of which are which are only found in New Zealand. They are separated by regions. This is definitely one of the better zoo environments we have seen for displaying captive animals. The animal cages were mostly expansive for the animals. The animals seemed to really thrive, with a successful breeding program for endangered wildlife. The non-profit organization goal is to connect people with wildlife conservation science, in a way that will keep wildlife species from extinction.

The animals at the Auckland Zoo are quite diverse. We even got a chance to see the elusive Kiwi Bird, the national bird of New Zealand. We now understand why they are so hard to see in the wild. Even in captivity, the birds are kept in near total darkness, since they are nocturnal. The kiwi is a unique flightless bird endemic to New Zealand that lost its ability to fly as it evolved. It is interesting that New Zealanders call themselves Kiwis.

Even little penguins are on display (middle left). The Kea bird, another endangered species, was also displayed (left bottom), as well as the Takahẽ (right bottom).

As we have mentioned before, we enjoy going on walking tours of a city whenever we can, to learn about a city from a local. We started at the Ferry Building at the entrance of Queen’s Wharf (upper left), modeled after the Ferry Building in San Francisco. We then walked past a monument celebrating New Zealand as the first country to grant women the right to vote (lower left), past the free Auckland Art Gallery, Albert’s Park, and finished the 2-hour walk near the Auckland University crawling beneath the Pobutakawa tree (lower right). This tree is a New Zealand icon with a deep spiritual meaning for Mãori mythology. Darcy, our guide from the Auckland Free Walking Tours (top-middle and middle addressing his tour group), had a booming voice plus great story-telling ability, and was able to keep a group of 40 tourists together, after his mate called in sick on New Year’s Eve.

Enroute along the walking tour, we saw the iconic Sky Tower (left and right) witnessing the wild free-fall jump down the side of the tower, parks, boats in the harbor (bottom-center and right) and learned about the history of the city.

Auckland also has quite a bit of street art. There is even a virtual street art guide to help you find the various murals and statues in the city.

Next, we will be flying back to Hawaii. We will only be home for 2 days, then off again. This time to the Big Island (confusingly also called Hawaii) for our nephew’s wedding reception.

New Zealand 9 — WĒTĀ Special Effects

Next doort to the iconic Sky Tower is the Wētā Workshop, an award-winning company (with 5 Oscars) known for creating special effects and props for movies and television as well as developing video games. Their special effects were used to create various movie sets in Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Hobbit movies as well as his 2005 King Kong movie. Wētā’s artists also helped create the Te Papa Museum exhibit, Gallipole: The Scale of our War that we considered one of the best we’ve seen (the report of our visit to the museum is here). The castle in the image above is made from foam and other model-making materials. The company, wētā, is named after one of the largest insects in the world.

On a Wētā Workshop Unleashed tour, you visit three different hypothetical movie sets. One department emphasized horror, another fantasy, and the last focused on sci-fi. The Weta Workshop in Auckland is designed for kids, but adults like us also marvel at the creativity of the artists. There is another weta workshop in Wellington, which has props from actual movies currently in production.

In the horror department, there are realistic animatronics and prosthetics. You even get to enter a dark maze for a heart-racing experience. One girl on the tour refused to go in, even though she was told it was all make-believe.

The second part of the tour takes you to the artists’ studio, where you get to learn all about how intricate fantasy worlds are brought to life, starting with artist concept sketches.

The third and final section is a sci-fi film set where you see robots, spaceships, and light displays.

The company is also known for their miniature model making, and you can see the intricate details on display. Above are character from The Lord of the Rings movies, including Gandalf (left column) and Bilbo (upper right). Wētā Workshop created creatures and characters, make-up and prosthetics, environments, miniatures, props, weapons, and armour for The Lord of the Rings movies. There were some 48,000 individual pieces created for that trilogy alone.

We saw how chain mail armor was made, with each ring individually placed in a time-consuming manner. Chain mail was an effective defense against the slashing and cutting of swords, but ineffective against cross-bows and bullets, which could enter through the gaps between the rings.

On this interactive tour, you are allowed to touch everything and pretend to be a special effects artist intern, so it was fun to see the molds and tools used to create the various characters and monsters. The tour guide (upper right) is a real character herself. We could overhear a guide from the group behind us, and we swore that all the guides were trained the same way. They all speak with similar comical, high pitched accents.

It’s hard to believe, but this is Evelyn, after putting on her make up. There were a number of make up stations that digitally applied the effects. The left column shows the various steps as the artist adds layers, with the right image displaying Evelyn ready for the stage. It was fun to see the end result.

Here are some of the creative concept sketches used. There is an amazing amount of talent and creativity in this company. The workshop was a fun way to spend time on a rainy day, which surprised us.

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