Arizona Trip

The Arizona part of my trip involved the zoo, hikes, horseback riding, hanging out, and helping out. The Phoenix Zoo had a dinosaurs exhibit, with animatronic recreations of what some ancient critters might have looked like. That was a cool addition to their usual stuff. I went on some walks/hikes with lots of wildflowers due to all of the unusual winter rains. Mostly the trip was hanging out and helping people out with various tasks.  

Animatronic recreation of ancient bear

Animatronic recreation of ancient dodo-type bird

Animatronic recreation of big dinosaurs

Sun bear

Javelinas

Big tortoise

Kitty

Owl

Armadillo

Horned owl

Little tortoise

Fluffed roadrunner

Prairie dog

Reptile fails at hiding

Horseback riding

Beautiful wildflowers blanketing the desert

Even purple and pink flowers were out

Wildflowers and cactus

Fairyduster plant

Funky cactus

Walking track

Amazon was everywhere

Funky Mexican restaurant

Tempting thrift store find but I resisted

Touch-free handle

Plastic bags everywhere

Helping with my friend’s plant research

Hike

Nice views of the valley

Plant sale

Cute succulents

 

Hamilton Gardens and Weta Workshop Unleashed

Rather than taking a trip somewhere on the North Island, in the new year we went on an easier-to-do day trip to Hamilton, which is about an hour and a half south of Auckland. I’d heard good things about the Hamilton Gardens but no one really explained that they were much more than the typical botanic gardens experience. They have lots of specialty/themed gardens and are constructing a couple more. I was impressed and would like to take some of my plant-loving friends there.

Fantasy Garden - like an Alice in Wonderland area

 

Fantasy Garden - facilities fit for a giant

 

First time seeing kiwifruit growing

Tudor Garden

Maori food storehouse (for kumara/sweet potatoes, etc.)

India Char Bagh Garden - my favorite with lots of color

Asian garden with bonsai

Chinese Scholars' Contemplation Garden

We also went to the nearby Waikato Museum, which we had almost to ourselves on New Year's Day. It had new information about the history of the Waikato region and a fair amount of artwork as well. The traffic coming back was so light, it was strange.

Otherwise, the other experience we had during the break was go to the Weta Workshop Unleashed experience in downtown Auckland and see some behind-the-scenes views of how they create special effects for sci-fi, fantasy, and horror films. It was interesting to get more insight into the research and work that goes into developing the world and the creatures. A lot is based on the weird things we have in the real world; truth can be stranger than fiction.

The three made-up films used to explain the special effects process
(horror, fantasy, and sci-fi)

 

Miniature fantasy land

This robot is 5 meters tall but can be made to look 15 meters tall
with certain angles and effects.

My holiday break is over, so it's back to working and waiting to see if the vaccine rollout changes the border restrictions. There are so many places still to explore around here and I hope to get to adventure out on some more day trips this year in between all of the writing projects I've got.