Aotearoa Tour Spring 2022 - Day 1: Te Whanganui a Tara (Wellington)
Nau mai
Inanahi, i whakatangi mātou ki Te Whanganui a Tara, Aotearoa
It was a very familiar Tāmaki Makaurau day that we arrived to, steel-grey skies, overcast and damp but not overly cold. On the way to immigration I stopped off to brush my teeth at my secret bathroom that is always empty for some reason. We made our way through customs quickly and piled our equipment onto four trolleys for the trip to Auckland Airport’s domestic terminal. The walk is about ten minutes long and takes you along some of the airport’s best service roads on a beautifully refurbished footpath marked with a thick green line.
Secret bathroom.
I apologise profusely if you get motion sickness from watching this video. It is hard to push a heavy trolley and film simultaneously.
Check-in went quickly and with an hour up our sleeves we headed to the food court for some parakuihi. I ordered a sweet waffle with panana, blueberries, and yoghurt.
We were headed to the world’s southernmost capital of a sovereign state. The flight to Te Whanganui a Tara (Wellington) is pleasantly short – only about an hour in the air – and marked by an exciting climax where you land in the turbulent conditions created by the nearby Cook Strait. Our flight was buffeted by violent winds as we descended through low cloud for most of the approach, the visibility clearing a few seconds before we were over the runway. It was a textbook Wellington landing with heavy gusts hitting the aircraft right before touchdown followed by a confident planting of the rear wheels by the pilot.
Our vehicle for the day was a Toyota Hiace, one of the slightly older ones, perhaps a 2016-18 vintage. Tour manager Anthony Metcalf was at the helm and he drove us into the city, taking the route along Cobham Drive which parallels the famous Meridian Energy Wind Sculpture Walk.
We first passed Akau Tangi, the steel and aluminium work by Phil Dadson that has eight poles topped with cones that create a soft keening or flute-like sound in the wind. The sculpture is named after the area it inhabits, which translates to ‘the sounding coast, or the crying seashore’.
Next up was Urban Forest by Leon van den Eijkel, a representation of the ‘urban trees’ he and his friends made out of scraps while growing up in war torn Holland
Lastly we passed Phil Price’s work, the Zephyrometer, a concrete cylinder that holds a 26m tall needle which sways to show wind direction and speed. Phil said this of the work - ‘it is a giant-sized yet beautiful machine. Its gentle lurching will in its own way gauge the wind of Wellington’.
There were a few hours before we were required for soundcheck so band members made their way to various locations to snag a quick bit of rest.
One of my favourite things to do in Te Whanganui a Tara is to go for a run along the town belt, the strip of green space that runs along the hills that line the southern edge of the city. It is a diverse route that goes through parkland, suburban streets, sports fields, and mountain bike tracks. It is also a great opportunity to experience Wellington’s wind at its very best which I did from the top of Mount Albert. Normally from here you can experience a panoramic view of the city, the airport, and the entrance to Te Moana-o-Raukawa (The Cook Strait), but yesterday’s weather obscured it completely.
The author atop Mount Albert.
Looking out over Newtown.
Venue call was a sensible 2.30pm allowing us time for a generous soundcheck in this grand and historic venue, the Wellington Opera House. I got to use a very tall bass amp called the Ampeq SVT-AV. My favourite thing about it was the tiny triangular markings around the dial which matched extremely closely the profile of the triangular prismed ridge on the knob.
Arriving through the ‘Alice Door’ at the side of the theatre.
An exciting part of the night was getting to watch Dawn Diver for the first time. They are the project of Ben Lemi, a powerful force on the Pōneke music scene. A skilled multi-instrumentalist and sound engineer, Ben has assembled a formidable line-up totalling seven musicians playing a variety of woodwinds, synthesisers, and guitars.
This felt like one of the tallest venues we have played. People who were on the top balcony told me that they almost had vertigo sitting up there. In the moments of pitch black I could see the lights of the ushers racing back and forth looking like speeding jet planes in a night sky. Although it was a seated gig a good portion of the audience got up to dance and the atmosphere of the show felt joyful. A great start to a long awaited homecoming tour.
📷 Anthony Metcalf.
📷 Anthony Metcalf.
Ka kite āno.