Showering in the Elevators

So today at around 10:10am here on 50 Manners Street (Check Location), the fire alarm went off. My first thought, learning from last time when we had a fire drill, was to grap my gadgets and then get out. So I did.

10 minutes earlier, I could swear someone was showering on the other side of the wall, I set next to the service shaft and it really sounded like there was water in there.

I wasn't wrong. I walked down the fire exit and on my way out, I saw the elevators getting full of water... Once I got outside I talked to Gilles, who told me that he had been downstairs to grap a coffee, and when he was, he saw everyone from the 11th floor coming down soaking wet, reason: A water pipe had burst. Note: You can easily recognize people from the 11th floor because that's where the Spanish Embassy is.

And then came the fire brigade, 4 trucks loaded with firefighters, ironic, when all we needed was a plumber. Anyways, some pictures:

Those little amazing things... A tribute to Metlink!

On the buses, everyone says "Good day" (or morning or evening) when they get on the bus, and "Thanks driver!" when they get off.

You always know when the police or fire brigade is coming before you can even hear them: The buses stop, blovk the road for cars and makes space for them.

When your card isn't working you get to ride for free! (Happened to me once and the busdriver sees me every morning).

The busdrivers are always friendly and very talkative! I get off at the second last stop on my route so it's very handy for me.

They're not on time, but got precise GPS estimates of arrival so you don't have to worry how long it will take.

Update:
So I've been told that a friend of mine passed this on to Metlink, you're welcome to contact me guys!

On second thought, maybe the ones I should thank is GoWellington? I don't know which is the parent company or if they are related at all, both deal with transport in Wellington and I'm just a tourist.

It never ends!

New Zealand that is. Turn around a random corner and you see something new, exciting, pretty, weird or just amazing in some other way.

In the middle of Wellington Harbour, formed long ago, before the time of Kupe, when Te Ika-a-Māui was just fished from the depths of the ocean, lived two taniwha, Ngake and Whātaita, lies Matui or Somes Island.

Somes Island served pretty much the same role as Ellis Island in New York, just off Manhattan. While New Zealand never really screened immigrants to the same extension, the local farmers were worried about diseases and so Somes Island had one of (and at several times THE) the worlds most secure animal health checkpoint. One feature being that noone ever wrote notes, instead notes were recorded with a microphone on an external tape recorder outside the security zone. Quite clever.

There was more than animals out there, or so they say: During WW2 Italians were held prisoner on the island because their weird language made them spies. Thick accent+gibberish=spy. Good thing security was low and the Italians could go swimming, make money creating sea-shell jewellery and meet their families 2 times a month. Italians were imprisoned on Matui for 2-4 years, many never found out why.

In 1956, a chinese man was put in detention on a small rock (calling it an island is really an overstatement!) just north of Matui. He was believed to have leprocy and was put there for that reason. When possible, the lighthouse keeper would row out with food, and apparently more. After the chinese man had died 3 months later, they found furniture made from shipping crates and more. They never found out why died, but today the small island goes by the name Leper Island.

Now, this place is beautiful! Just look at the picture, enough history!