work trip in wellington

/ in the te papa gift shop /

what a whirlwind few days! after our weekend in taupo/hamilton, i hardly bothered to unpack as i was back off to wellington very early on monday morning. i opted to take the commuter train, which meant i departed at 6:15am, but it also meant i didn't have to drive the 2 hours in rush hour traffic. unfortunately the sun only rose about halfway through the trip so i didn't get to see much scenery, but it was great to be able to doze and watch ted talks on the way down.

i arrived around 8:20am and was lucky that there was a room ready at the hotel so i could chill out until my payroll training started. i won't bother saying much about the training course because it was absolutely mind numbing and focused toward the 40- and 50-something office ladies with average computer skills that  made up the rest of the course. despite the training and prep that has gone into this new education payroll system, i still have a sneaking suspicion lots of sh*t will go down when it goes live. i hope i'm wrong!!

/ aquatic wildlife display at te papa /

the highlight of my monday was getting a chicken burrito and margarita from sweet mother's kitchen on courtney place. they have an eclectic menu with mexican, southern, cajun and other selections. i've been 3 times now and have enjoyed every visit.

i was lucky that training finished early on tuesday and i was able to head over to te papa for a short visit. i always check out the animals even though they don't have anything new, i still just enjoy wandering through.

/ part of the nz in vogue displays /

a tie for favorite part of the museum is the fashion wing that is sort of tucked in the back between the kids area and the library. it's actually more of a hallway and you could easily miss it. this time they had a display called new zealand in vogue with fashion from the 50s and 60s.

in a small gallery nearby there was also a small exhibit of fashion illustrations by kate coolahan, which were great! i had never heard of her, but i loved her illustrations and the fashion in them.

/ 1962 display card by kate coolahan /

i also swung by the contemporary collection exhibit in the art gallery, which had a few pieces i enjoyed but i didn't photograph any. before i knew it, it was nearly 5pm, so i made a mad dash to the train station to catch the train home. it was nice to have a break from work, i just wish it was doing something more stimulating than payroll training...  luckily this is the last week of the term and reuben and i are off to spend a romantic weekend at chateau tongariro before my school holidays :)