We arrived in Wellington on the north island which is known as New Zealand's arts and culture capital and it is quite compact for a city. The city is curved around Wellington Harbour and backed by hills.
After a leisurely breakfast on board, we caught a shuttle bus into town and tried to orient ourselves - it felt strange to be in a city again.
There was loads of informative historic material of the history of trade, shipping, people and politics. It recalled for me the debates many years ago at the Australian Museum about presentation and written content – how much to include, tone and language.
Each exhibit had enough visual material, simple presentation, but also depth for those wanting more. Its internal architecture including heavy timber stairs added to the experience. The new Australian Museum exhibition of Treasures in the Long Gallery is presented in a similar vein.
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| Wellington Museum |
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| Excellent displays |
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| Beautiful internal stairway |
We then caught the famous (in Wellington) cable car which goes to the top of the hill behind the town and includes a laser light show in the tunnels. A guaranteed tourist attraction, but fun nonetheless.
From there we walked through the botanical gardens overlooking the city which was again staffed by helpful volunteers. Something that’s impressed us here in New Zealand is the number of volunteers assisting with the cruises in the towns - it’s obviously a money spinner for the local economies, but it's also an indication of local pride and civic spirit, not unlike Sydney during the Olympics.
The gardens has an excellent rose garden although by midday the perfume from the flowers had all but dissipated in the over 30 degree temperature - unusually warm.
There was also an interesting horizontal sundial that required a person to stand at a certain spot depending on the date, and hold your hands above your head to indicate the time.
We headed out of the gardens via the interesting Bolton Street Cemetery which has a controversial freeway running through it. Speaking of planning, the city has an interesting mix of old and new, but not very well done to my mind - not unlike the Sydney CBD.
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| Bolton Street Cemetery |
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| City view from the cemetery |
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| Bisected by a motorway |
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| Monument |
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| Maori gravestone |
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| Parliament House |
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| Manhole cover |
From the centre of Wellington we walked the almost 2 kilometres in blazing sun along the foreshore towards Oriental Bay Beach
The beach was pretty crowded with locals and holidaymakers – a little far for the cruise passengers.
Along the way we saw a Maori guy playing a community piano on the boardwalk. He was just playing and singing quietly along (you can just hear his voice towards the end of the video).
When I talked to him after he stopped for a break, he said that he was pleased someone had been listening. We eventually arrived at the beach where Frances had a swim - of course.
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| Piano man |
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| Around the bay towards the beach |
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| At the beach |
My simplistic impression of Wellington by then, was like combining Botany Bay, Sydney CBD, Darling Harbour and Brighton Le Sands and rolling them all into a small area. Afterwards we made our way back to the boat for a plunge in the pool and an ice cream to cool off.
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| Art Deco Fire Station |
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| Shopping arcade in former bank building |
After a fairly exhausting day, the 6 of us had a very nice dinner in the on-board Azura restaurant, accompanied by an excellent Scott Rose from the Marlborough region, then we had an early night.
We arrived in Wellington on the north island which is known as New Zealand's arts and culture capital and it is quite compact for a city. The city is curved around Wellington Harbour and backed by hills.
From there we walked through the botanical gardens overlooking the city which was again staffed by helpful volunteers. Something that’s impressed us here in New Zealand is the number of volunteers assisting with the cruises in the towns - it’s obviously a money spinner for the local economies, but it's also an indication of local pride and civic spirit, not unlike Sydney during the Olympics.
From the centre of Wellington we walked the almost 2 kilometres in blazing sun along the foreshore towards Oriental Bay Beach
