Ko The Shopping Sherpa ahau*

and I can't believe tomorrow is my last day with Te Papa.

Which I can now pronounce properly because today I had my very first Te Reo lesson.

(*I am The Shopping Sherpa)

The BarTab at BarCamp

was great.

(I think...)

(Please note I didn't use the title "This one time at BarCamp...")

Was that Tuesday that just whizzed past?

Blessing (and sneaky peek) of the fabulous Brian Brake: Lens on the world exhibition which opens at Te Papa on Saturday.

Day two of the National Digital Forum, which lots more food for thought and a meeting with a key player about the project I'm working on as part of my internship.

An invite to the friends' preview of the next Craft 2.0. Which alas, I won't be here for.

A quick scamper down the waterfront to The Museum of Wellington City & Sea to see their exhibition on the American troops in Wellington during World War Two (alas not worth the effort, in my opinion)

Followed by a behind the scenes tour of the Te Papa Imaging Department (where they take and improve photos and images) where I had a discussion with one of the photographers about a dolls house he made many years ago.

The usual crawl home along the motorway, a trip to the beach with Topsy then dinner with The Parental Units and I fell into bed, completely buggered.

(Oh, and no photos)

Today...

One conference.

Spotting two ex boyfriends. (Not at the same time)

Lots of wine.

A bush walk at lunchtime

It was another grey and drizzly day in Wellington today: perfect weather for a bush walk!

Luckily for me there's one not more than 2 minutes from my desk at work*...

which comes complete with friendly locals.

Speaking of friendly locals, as I wandered down to the sea I met this pair:

and this chap:

(who looks like he really needs someone to knit him a little something to keep him warm. Luckily I didn't bring any stash or needles with me...)

The rest of the 45 photos I took today can be found here, including this one:

which proves that New Zealand bush is best viewed in the rain.

(*I'm still not sure if this is defined as still being within Te Papa and therefore covered by the photography policy but I decided not)

And the days keep whizzing past...

The highlights of yesterday:

A lunchtime shopping trip with the girls from work.

The delivery of a large bunch of flowers for the boss, who is overseas so we got to keep them.

A behind the scenes tour of our Works on Paper store and close encounters with some original E Mervyn Taylor wood engravings which took my breath away (and made me very frustrated that I couldn't take photos). This was followed by a viewing of some Norman Lindsay engravings to add an Australian perspective.

(As a reminder to myself that I'm in Wellington, I drove home past The Beehive)

Dinner with The Parental Units and an evening spent updating and polishing my resume with my Dad. Who may or may not have been waving around a copy of Weasel Words at some stage during the evening while I glared at him and tried not to laugh.

A powhiri, a garage sale, a trip to Kirkaldies and a large iced chocolate

Today was an excellent day, starting with a quick journey into the city, followed by a powhiri at Te Papa's marae to welcome a new board member.

At lunchtime there was a garage sale of excess items collected for the Slice of Heaven exhibition, where I managed to scoop up some ephemera treasure. Then my supervisor and I had an unofficial walking meeting to Kirkaldies

and, later in the afternoon, a large iced chocolate complete with Sante bar stirrer.

In between I did work which felt like play but was received with great excitement. And I got signed up for The National Digital Forum BarCamp next week. Which filled me with great excitement.

Just another day at work

Yesterday flew past, but highlights included a talk across at City Gallery at lunchtime (Making IT in a digital world by Edinburgh-based contemporary craft curator Amanda Game) and the debate currently raging in the media about an advisory regarding menstruating and pregnant woman and a back-of-house tour at Te Papa.

Then there was the (now) usual commute to and from work, dog walking, supermarket visiting, dinner making and dishwasher loading and suddenly the day was over. With not a single photo having been taken...

This is...

...Where I'm working for three weeks:

(and seeing lots of interesting things inside but there's a photography policy that means I can't take photos inside to display online. Although the lovely Librarian gave me special dispensation to take and share this one):

... What I'm reading at the moment:

... Some graffiti I saw across the road from work:

(That is a cheese slicer, isn't it? So it goes nicely with the coffee pot graffiti I photographed in Venice...)

... What happens to Wellington weather as 4:30pm Friday rolls around:

... A letter box I spotted round the corner:

The walking meeting

Yesterday I attended my first team meeting: a meeting with a difference.
Every week the team puts on their walking shoes and heads off around Oriental Bay to discuss what they've achieved in the past week and what plans are for the following week.

There's an agenda and a dictaphone for note taking, which is passed around like a modern day talking stick.

And the view from the "meeting room" is magnificent!

Learning lots

Like how to operate a dog

and drive an automatic

and, at work, reading lots and lots about Museum online communities and forums and discussion groups.

Then I come home and try to remember which remotes I need to press in which order to get the TV to work: part of my acclimatisation process involves watching Shortland Street both recent and vintage...

Maori on Monday

On the way to the dentist:

My first day with Team Te Papa where I was given a mihi whakatau* in the afternoon:

At Petone beach with kuri** Topsy:

(*Welcome)

(**Dog)