Artwork at Night

Originally uploaded by beejayge

Te Papa and Monet. This evening I went to Te Papa with my friend Michelle, who flew down from Auckland specially. How cool is that? Currently Te Papa is hosting the famous Monet & the Impressionists exhibition usually housed at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Luckily while we were there the wonderful Maggie Barry gave a talk on Monet, his garden at Giverny and his art. The exhibition was marvellous.

This photo is of some very cool art work outside Te Papa. It was cool in the daytime, but when I saw it lit up at night time it was awesome.

Day 56

Originally uploaded by beejayge

Wellington is such a cool city.     There are so many fantastic old buildings in Wellington and so much history everywhere I look, its awesome. When I compare this city to Auckland it’s like the Mayor of Auckland said let’s get rid of all the historical old buildings in the city and build loads of new stuff. Then 20 years later all that new stuff is just old and ugly. While at the other end of the North Island, the Mayor of Wellington said we don’t want to be trendy and cool, our really old buildings must be saved and restored. So 20 years later in Wellington they have a city to really be proud of.

Don’t worry I still love Auckland, it’s just that right now I’m truly enjoying and appreciating my time in Wellington. Today’s photo is of a street (Hill Street I think) next to the parliament buildings where the late afternoon sunshine made this bunch of moths appear to glow.

Day 55

Originally uploaded by beejayge

When I Was Younger. Back when I was about 18 it was my dream to transfer from the ANZ branch I was working at in Auckland to this one in Wellington. I thought working in Wellington especially at this fantastic new building (head office) would be ultra cool. I never did transfer to Wellington but here I am working in Wellington for a week at least, in a very swanky new government building.

Day 54

Originally uploaded by beejayge

The New Job. I started my new job today and I think it must have been the best first day on a job ever. I got to fly to Wellington, check into a very flash hotel and stroll round the corner to head office. As the plane took off from Auckland I thought wow, what a fabulous way to get to work. I’m down here in Wellington for a whole week.

Day 53

Originally uploaded by beejayge

On My Walk.

The Grand Finale

Originally uploaded by beejayge

Starlight Symphony VIP Experience. This evening three friends and I got to experience the Starlight Symphony like VIPs, thanks to Mercury Energy (see Day 48). We had a special car park reserved for us near the event, Michelle and Tony were escorted by “Mercury Men” to the VIP picnic area (and they carried our bags), my friend Alex and I got taken to the VIP picnic area by pedal powered rickshaw and we got to sit right in front of the stage.

The concert in the park was wonderful as always, the crowd was great, the performances stunning and the fireworks display was amazing plus it felt like it was right over our heads, actually it probably was.

Day 51

Originally uploaded by beejayge

Goodbye ATC. Today was my last day of work at ATC. It was actually sad leaving there coz I really did enjoy my job and the people I worked with were awesome. But onwards and upwards to a new and exciting job starting on Monday.

As a leaving gift I was presented with a framed image of me surrounded by many photos of the people I either taught or worked with while at ATC. On the left hand side is a list of all the students I taught while working there. Kind of like a picture of me surrounded by all my happy ATC memories.

Day 50

Originally uploaded by beejayge

Goodbye to My Students. Just like the sunset in this photo, the sun has set on another chapter of my work history. On Monday I start my new job, so today I had to say goodbye to my students for the last time (they do work experience tomorrow).

Another goodbye happened today, but this was a pleasurable one. I handed over my Vodafone SIM card to Telecom to claim my $299 credit. Ah yes, that is at long last the end of Vodafone in my world.

Day 49

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Thank you Mercury Energy. The VIP Prize Pack arrived in the mail today. Excellent.

Day 48

Originally uploaded by beejayge

Celebration. I am really looking forward to this coming Saturday night because I am going to the Starlight Symphony at the Auckland Domain with my very good friend Michelle who has just returned to NZ for a summer holiday, she arrived on Monday. We planned going to this a while ago and I’ve been looking forward to it ever since.

Last month when I got my power bill from Mercury Energy they included an entry form for a competition to win a VIP prize pack for the Starlight Symphony, they are major sponsors of this event. The prize pack includes VIP parking near the event plus seats in the VIP area. Today I got a phone call telling me I’d won. So right now I’m having a wee glass of wine to celebrate. I’m going to have to play a CD soon which has the song “Unspeakable Joy” on it, coz that just about sums up how I’m feeling right now.