Laura - Fly fox and other playground pursuits

Now there is no way I could bring Laura, lover of all things fun and youthful, to NZ and not show her some of the more fantastical and playful elements.

The flying foxes of course are a must see attraction in my mind.

So are these things, which I do not have a name for.. I can voucher for them as being capable of both relaxed bouncing as well as crazy vigorous play.
And this.. well this is just fantastic!
Really there are few times where I put Laura next to something for scale and only manage to make her look extremely short.

Flying fox

Last week I played on a flying fox with wonderful people

Photos are self explanatory











Even bigger and longer than the one my dad built us when we were kids, but felt safe

sunday routine

Sundays have become the day we venture downtown to shop for veggies. Today the rain fell off and on throughout the day. Occasionally the sun shone through the rain, something I've rarely seen outside of Oregon. Everything was wet. Everyone commented on how cold it was (one store had a sign on their closed door that read "yes we are open, its just a bit chilly outside today").

But that didn't stop us from shopping at the veggie market. I remain amazed at how far $20 goes at the market. We can get all the fruit and veggies for the week, and then go to the local butcher for our meat, eggs, and dairy needs. If we stick to this and completely avoid the grocery store, we save a ton of money and eat yummier food.

Then we took a detour on the way home and stopped into te Papa

and discovered that there were schedule events all day long as part of the museum's celebration of Matariki. It was incredible to listen to the music and the crowd that gathered. I found it all very moving; yet another moment were I pinch myself and say 'I'm in NZ!' with still a bit of disbelief.

I wish I could say that we went to the museum because of the great cultural events, but sadly I was unaware of them before I entered the museum. Instead, we tromped over there because we had free coffee vouchures for the museum's cafe!

which we thoroughly enjoyed as we watched the birds.

I was particularly amused by this posted photo when we bused our table.

We think it is a photo of a plane/surfboard that is used as coffee cart. We both thought it was very very cool - flying and coffee, too pasions of ours, although we can only afford one at the moment.

Another inexpensive way to enjoy rainy days is to walk along the waterfront. Above and below are bit of what you can see from the city wharf.

But the best bit for me remains this incredible playstructure. This is just the little slide. On the other side is a HUGE one, that I still am getting up the nerve to try. Its is significantly taller thatn the slide they took down at the GC elementary school... Not something you'd want to get stuck in either!

Search for goggles...

Last week I found myself walking to Oriental Bay to buy some goggles. Along the way I snapped a few photos as I often do. I probably look more like a tourist now than I ever have on real trips. Then again, having a small digital camera with you at all times helps!

Here is another playground, its on the opposite side of the harbour as the tall slide one







This is a new type of play equipment to me. The kid is standing on a board that its attached to a curved rail. The kiddo then can grab a curved center post and pull to slide himself back and forth. I am hoping to go try it myself someday soon!



in the background you can see the ferry - just as iconic as the windmill, if not more so (see next post)



This is the Freyberg pool that juts into the water a bit


and here are some more local toys

Playgrounds

I love playgrounds. I love ones where kids, adults, and those inbetween ages can all play together, but hate it when teenagers intimidated young kids... and I am happy to say that many playgrounds here draw people of all ages. I've witnessed some lovely intergenerational interaction between adults, kids, teenagers, and toddlers.

Here are the playgrounds at the Wellington Botantic Garden. Notice the height of the slide. Just behind it is a fairly long flying fox thing that reminded me of the zip line my dad built me as a kid. Its a good 4 feet off the ground from the disk you sit on and draws kids of all ages. It was great seeing teenagers helping little kids. The little kids weren't getting to take cuts, but the big kids were also making sure they got their turn – even if the little ones were too squirreling to properly wait in line.


Playgrounds are an easy place to spot Americans. We're the ones open mouth, gob smacked, staring at the 'dangerous' items. Those who aren't speechless are found muttering “well you wouldn't see this in America” over and over again. I met a doctor from Seattle in this manner. After taking turns with his preschool son on the slide, I joined him muttering about how you'd never find such fun contraptions in America. Kids do fall here. I'm sure some get hurt unfortunately. But I also see a lot of kids just bouncing up and back to play without a tear.


Here is the playground in Karori; 

its next to the field we see from our deck,

Little footpaths lead to it from different directions,  this one goes by a preschool.


Items that would easily be classified under “never to be seen in litigious America” include the 1.5 story slide, the 15 foot high fireman's pole, the splinter hazards everywhere, and the multiple places you could fall from higher than your own height. I loved it!



Another interesting thing is how adults are comfortable helping and interacting with other people's children. You often see strangers helping children on to swings, pulling them back over fences a kid shouldn't have climbed over, and reminding kids to be careful. At the bus yesterday I saw a 7 and a 5 year old running down the street from the bakery. No parent in sight. A grandmotherly figure who was chatting with me at the bus stop called after them to be careful. They continued sprinting, but stopped without reminder at the street corner. The older one grabbed the young one's hand and they masterfully crossed at the crosswalk. At least 5 adults, unbeknownst to the youngsters, were watching them ready to jump in if needed – but the kids were fine and carried on home to their parents with the bread.