Arts & Culture / Tours

Wellington has magnificent scenery, great opportunities for outdoor recreation, and two top wine-producing areas close by Exclusive Outgames day and evening tours showed you the best of the region.

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Wild sex ? A walk on the wild side with Dr Gertrude Glossip

Sunday 13 March 2011, 2 to 3.30pm
Saturday 19 March 2011, 11.30am to 1pm
Meeting Point: Wellington Zoo - 200 Daniell Street, Newtown,Wellington

Tickets:

$33 � �� 2 for 1 (prepayment before day of event)
$44 � �� 2 for 1 (walk up cost on the day)
$20 � �� Single (prepayment before day of event)
$26 � �� Single (walk up cost on the day)

Tickets include admission and guided tour. Number per tour ? min 20 / max 50

Online Pre-sales now closed. Bookings: Arts Convenor

Animal lovers, the social and sexual diversity in the animal world is breathtaking! Queer behaviour abounds!� No, all the animals in creation are not happy, heterosexual, monogamous couples as suggested in the Noah?s Ark story. Noted Australian sexologist Dr Gertrude Glossip at lovely Wellington Zoo regaled you with ?tails? of the ?sexploits? of some of your favourite animals ? chimpanzees, lions, giraffes, cheetahs, baboons. �The walks were fun but factual (an ?infotainment?) and based on Bruce Bagemihl?s book Biological Exuberance!

Celebrity Tour Guide, Dr Gertrude Glossip PhD (Formal Drapery) Curtain University Gertrude loves to ?talk the walk? In her own words she ?enjoys near boutique iconic status? in her beloved hometown of Adelaide, South Australia She first ?emerged? to prominence when she led the Gay History Walk for Adelaide?s inaugural Feast Festival in 1997 and has done so at each subsequent annual festival She added her celebrated zoo tours to her repertoire several years later and has performed them at Feast Festivals, Melbourne?s Midsumma, Sydney Gay Games 2002, Adelaide and Melbourne Fringe Festivals, and at the Chester (largest zoo in the UK) and Dublin Zoos.

Wellington Zoo, is the best little zoo in the world Explore New Zealand?s first zoo to get up close and personal to native treasures and endangered exotic animals.

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Magical History Tour

Organised by LAGANZ
Sunday, March 13 2011, 2:30pm - 4:30pm
Tickets $20. Online Pre-sales now closed. Bookings: Arts Convenor

All Enquiries: Hugh Young:

The Magical History Tour came to take you away!

In Aotearoa New Zealand, we now enjoy almost complete equality in human rights and law ? the age of consent�is the same (16)�for all, Civil Union is marriage in all but name, we are accepted in the military, openly gay men and lesbians hold high public office and our transgendered Cabinet Minister led the world But it was not always so. Human rights protection dates from 1993 onward, legality of male sex acts from 1986. Before then, we faced constant risk of exposure, shame, loss of jobs or homes, and for men, imprisonment.

This two-hour guided bus ride through historic GLBT Wellington told the stories of how these changes came about, and the lives of famous queer folk, both New Zealanders and others, where they actually happened This tour was a fascinating, moving and amusing introduction to a side of New Zealand the guidebooks won't tell you about, and for New Zealanders, a journey back to a past that should never be forgotten.

Your guides were retired gender studies lecturer Dr Alison Laurie and retired gay broadcaster and collector Hugh Young. The tour was sponsored by the Lesbian and Gay Archives of New Zealand (LAGANZ).

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Zealandia By Night

Tuesday, March 15 2011, 6:30pm - 9.30pm (now SOLD OUT)

Wednesday, March 16 2011, 6:30pm - 9:30pm (just added to meet demand)

Tickets $75. Online Pre-sales now closed

Meeting point: Coach pickup point outside Te Papa, Museum of New Zealand

Our Zealandia By Night tour provided a completely different and magical experience, taking you and your Outgames companions into a 220 hectare forest sanctuary after dark to see rare New Zealand wildlife.

You tour began with highlights of our fully immersive and interactive exhibition, and discover how this safe haven was created. Then you stepped through the predator-exclusion fence into the forest, to experience something incredible - evening birdsong that hasn't been heard on the New Zealand mainland for more than a century.

As darkness falls, your gay guide started looking for our elusive national mascot - the kiwi. Over 100 call our valley home, so there was a good chance of spotting one foraging in the leaf litter!� You may have seen kaka parrots, and tuatara - the small lizards that trace their ancestry back to the dinosaurs. Often, the glow-worms are so bright you won?t even need your torch!

This is an utterly unforgettable experience - New Zealand at its very best.

http://www.visitzealandia.com/
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The Carbon-Neutral Sex-Positive Art Tour

Wednesday 16 March 2011, 3.30pm - 5.30pm
Price: FREE!�
Meeting Point: On the pavement outside Photospace Gallery, 37 Courtenay Place, Central Wellington.

Please note: Photospace Gallery is on the first floor and can be a little hard to spot, so we will meet on the pavement - if you're outside the Sahara Kebab Cafe you're in the right place!

Art galleries tend to be found in peculiar places. Wellington galleries are no exception, and as such a stroll around these venues is a view into the private heart of Wellington city.

Your tour guide, Siren Deluxe, took the guess work out of locating the cities hot dealer galleries and lead you with confidence up unlikely staircases and down the art world alleyways.

During two hours (only about 30 minutes of which is walking) you visited many of the cultural venues supporting the Outgames by exhibiting queer artists, and art with a focus on sexuality. During the tour, we heard from some of the gallery directors about the works they had on show, and met some artists in the flesh.

The tour concludes at where an event marking the opening of Rebecca Swan's latest body of work was in full swing. Here, we found a 'kissing booth' where the artist was photographing willing couples in private, and adding these images to the exhibition on the night.

What an opportunity - to spend a couple of hours sauntering around the city admiring art, and then possibly even become art!

About your guide: Siren Deluxe is a Wellington-based artist with a passion for sexual heritage and artwork about sexuality and gender identity. You can see her work at http://www.sirendeluxe.com/.

What you had to bring: Comfortable walking shoes and perhaps a bottle of water? oh, and a love of (or spritely curiosity about) art.

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Wairarapa Garden Tour

Thursday, March 17 2011, 8am - 5pm
Tickets $75. Online Pre-sales now closed. Bookings: Arts Convenor�
Meeting point: Wellington Railway Station - ticketing office

Download programme (PDF - 180kB)

Stunning gardens and fabulous wine was the theme for The Outgames Garden Tour. We caught a train from the Wellington Railway Station, then glided past the harbour and on to the sun-baked Wairarapa valley. At Carterton we boarded our coach. The first stop was at Richmond Gardens, one of New Zealand's most impressive formal country gardens. We enjoyed morning tea and a guided tour.

Next was Assisi Gardens, where we found a complete contrast with areas of informal New Zealand native plantings on a hillside with spectacular views over the Wairarapa Valley. A packed lunch was provided, along with wine tastings. There was an opportunity to buy wine by the glass or bottle.

The wine was supplied by the next stop on the Garden Tour, Te Whanga (pronounced ?teh fonga?) Farm, an old and very typical Wairarapa farm, complete with historic garden and homestead.

We caught the train for a leisurely return to Wellington, arriving back in the city at 5.30pm.

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Textiles, Back-of-House Tour

Monday 14 March and Wednesday 16 March
12noon-12.30pm and 1pm-1.30pm

History curators Stephanie Gibson and Lynette Townsend gave attendees a wide-ranging introduction to Te Papa's beautiful textile collection, revealing some treasures and surprises.

Cost: $10. Numbers are limited.
For registered participants and supporters only.
Bookings essential. Email::

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Works on Paper, Back-of-House Tour

Tuesday 15 March and Thursday 17 March 2011
12noon-12.30pm and 1pm-1.30pm

Tony Mackle, Collections Manager Art (Prints and Drawings), gave a tour of the collection storage area housing Te Papa's works on paper collection of approximately 9,000 items. Tony� demonstrated the various methods of storage used to preserve and protect the collection, and show you some of the most significant items in the collection, giving details of their history and background.

Cost: $10. Numbers are limited.
For registered participants and supporters only.
Bookings essential. Email::

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The South Island Odyssey

Monday, 21 March - Thursday, 31 March 2011

Pricing and booking information available at RailtoursNZ.com

What do you call 11 days of the most spectacular New Zealand scenery, great food, great wine, and great company?� The South Island Odyssey!

This unique adventure from Wellington to Queenstown by train, boat, and coach was designed to showcase the very best of the South Island From the wineries of the Marlborough region to Kaikoura's whale watching experience, to the delights of Queenstown and the Sounds�

Play� Excite� Inspire

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