Wellington - New Zealand's Windy City

Sunrise from our hotel room in Napier on Friday morning.  We looked right out over the Pacific.  While sunrises over the ocean are not all that interesting (I see them all the time when in Florida), I had to remind myself this was sunrise (not sunset) over the Pacific.  That made it interesting to me.

Trip to Wellington

We left Napier and the east coast of New Zealand's north island on Friday.  It was a pretty drive, but a little rainy that day.  Lots of little towns on the way down to Wellington at the far south end of the north island and our last stop on the north island before heading to the south island of New Zealand.  Lots of apples, a little corn (they call maze) and more sheep farms and agriculture fields.

As we approached Wellington, we had to cross the Rimutaka mountain range (the winds on top were severe and the climb down the mountain in wet weather was a little more treacherous - I read how a train that used to pass over the range was pushed off its tracks by wind many years ago).

As we got close to Wellington, the weather did clear - albeit a bit cooler and still windy, so we did get some great views of Wellington sitting on the bay as we approached.  The city calls itself "Windy Welly" and it was proved to us on the first day.

 

J Driving in NZ

I don't have a ton of pictures from Friday as there wasn't a lot to see, it was raining, and K had me drive part of the day (no pictures when in the driver seat).  As this was my first chance behind the wheel, I thought I would comment.  K has done a great job driving and it is not as easy as one would think to drive from the right side of the car and on the left side of the road.  Tomorrow, when you get up, consciously try brushing your teeth and hair with the opposite hand.  Then try to floss in the opposite way with your hands as you do now.  Then try to eat your breakfast with silverware in the opposite hand.  It's not that you couldn't do these things, it is just that it makes it a bit harder and you have to constantly think about your motions when you have spent your life doing things the other way.  That is a bit like what it is like to be driving down here.

While K was getting ready on Friday, I took the luggage to the car and decided to pull the car around.  Without thinking, I got into the car on the left and sat down to drive it off.  Hmmm.  Something was wrong.  I was sitting in the passenger seat.  Oh yeah - got to get in the other side.  You feel pretty stupid when you see yourself sitting alone looking for the steering wheel and it's on the other side of the car.

As you get ready to turn (and stay in the left lane), you are so busy trying to think about staying in the correct lane and watch for oncoming traffic in the opposite direction that you forget that the turn signal is on the opposite side too so you end up flipping on the windshield wipers (something K is still doing).  You start to get used to it after a few minutes, but I can see how some people could have great difficulty driving in Australia, NZ and the UK and end up causing accidents.

The one saving grace is that the highways, roads and streets here are wide and beautiful and generally well marked (unlike in Europe where streets are very narrow and not always well market).

K is a wonderful driver but fell asleep when I was driving - so much for her navigational skills - so I think the roles will switch back as we head to the south island tomorrow and more navigation is required.

Wellington

Wellington is a beautiful city - relatively small at 360K people and compact.  All of the major parts of downtown sit within about a mile bowl around the harbor.  Here are a few panoramic pictures I took from various places yesterday to give a sense of the city.  The first few from the Te Papa museum (more on this below) and the others from atop a hill park overlooking the city.

 

 

We started our day with a check in to Wellington's i-Site information center.  For those coming to New Zealand, take advantage of these visitor centers in each town that you visit.  At the very least, you'll get a good map of the city.  But they also have all sorts of information about the city and surrounding area.  The centers are packed so you know they must add value.

The i-Site information center sits on the Civic Square.  Wellington likes to bill this as a modern day Italian piazza.  There are a number of art works right in (or as you'll see below above) the square.  K and her camera were going nuts.

 The silver ball art hung from the middle of the square was so cool.  The wires are seen here as I zoomed in, but you could not seem them unless you are right underneath and looking a certain way.  The ball is in the shape of silver ferns.  The silver fern tree is a national symbol and you see it all over everything.  The actual silver fern is also seen all over the country.  It is green on top but when turned over has a silver color - giving it its name.  The Maori used them to help navigate the forest at night - turn a fern over and it serves like a bread crumb through the forest and is supposedly even seen at night.

 K - camera in hand - going gonzo.

Most of yesterday was spent in the Te Papa Museum.  This was built in 1998 and is fast becoming the nation's museum - probably replacing the Auckland War Museum in both stature and relevance for the NZ people.  It is a beautiful museum.  It covers the natural as well as the historical importance of NZ and her people - so it is also quite large.  Six floors and an outdoor area to provide a natural plant exhibit - almost like a small botanical garden.  Parts of the museum are set up for kids - little discovery zones and hands on exhibits - while other parts are geared toward adults.  They even have an adults shop and kids shop for souvenirs.  It is very well organized (as far as the material and information provided are concerned) and most importantly - it is all free!  Free for everyone - foreigner or New Zealander.

For those planning a trip to Wellington, give yourself the better part of one whole day (if not the entire day) to cover this museum.  K is not a museum gal and she thoroughly enjoyed this museum. Below are some pictures of the building and a few exhibits

A modern Maori decorated stage and center for hosting educational and entertainment events at the museum.  The stain glass window sat at the back of the center.  The pictures may not do it justice.  It was elaborate and beautiful - and of course told a story itself in Maori tradition.

The view from roof of the Te Papa Museum looking down to Wellington

 

 View of the Waitangi Treaty room where their most important document is covered.  Waitangi Treaty was an agreement between the Maori and the British Empire making NZ a part of the UK and granting Maori people British citizenship (while also protecting their land rights - something not always adhered to).

Anchor from the vessel (French) that surveyed the islands.  The anchor was lost by the explorers but recovered by Kelly Tarlton (recent modern day treasure hunter).  It hung in the entry way hall.

 

New Zealand has become something of a fashion center.  They invented and host a wearable art festival each year (World of Wearable Art - called WOW) that has become quite famous (to those like K that know these things).  Many of the past winner fashion pieces are housed in the museum.  Yeah, it's a little wack-job but it's their thing and who can argue with that?

They had some wonderful displays and information on the immigration to New Zealand.  This chart depicts the rise and fall of immigration since early European arrivals and why.  Early spikes were due to gold rushes and whaling.

There was a lot to see in this museum.  Some of the other highlights (which I did not get pictures of) include: some wonderful displays of the volcanic/seismic activity that has and continues to shape New Zealand.  Some of the pictures and facts about past eruptions and earthquakes are amazing, a variety of fossils and replicas of some of the extinct and endangered animals of the island (my favorite - a 8' tall bird called the Moa), the worlds largest colossal squid  (the actual preserved 33 foot and 1000 pound animal that was captured by a fishing vessel south of New Zealand), and many artifacts relating to the colonization and "discovery" of New Zealand.

If you come to Wellington and visit the Te Papa, do yourself a favor and head right to the information desk where you can sign up for a 1 hour tour of the place.  They occur every few hours.  This tour provides an introduction to the museum and covers the highlights.  It costs $14 NZ (about $11 US) and is money well spent.  Our guide Julie gave her first official tour along with her trainer Phil.  Her training took several months and it showed because she was excellent.  We also got a chance to talk to Phil for about 15 minutes after the tour just about New Zealand.  All the staff in the museum were very nice, helpful and knowledgeable about what was in the museum.

After spending time in the museum, we headed out for some drinks (my favorite part of any city) and then explored a few other features of Wellington.  By the way - beer in New Zealand - J approved!

We strolled down Cuba Street - a café, restaurant and shop laden street in downtown.  It was a little unkempt for my taste.  K called it full of "atmosphere and character."  I saw some "characters" if that is what she meant.

We took the city's famous cable car to the top of the hill overlooking the city.  Some of the pictures earlier in this post came from the hilltop.

The cable car dumps you off at the Wellington Botanic Gardens which contain the Lady Norwood Rose Garden.

 

With that, a small hike back down to our hotel past the city's old graveyard and the government center (NZ's parliament building which I will cover in my next post as we went to it today) - K was pooped and it was time for dinner at a restaurant called Pravda.