Whilst travelling down to the South I spent a very brief 12 hours in Wellington knowing that I would be able to return and see the place properly in my own time. Wellington is supposed to be the windiest city in the world – it certainly felt that way when I got off the Bluebridge ferry. The return crossing was not as pleasant as the outward journey and I was pleased to be out of the wild Cook Strait.
Wellington – the coolest little capital, is just that. I extended my stay there to just over a week. I won’t bore you with a day by day break down of my time, but instead list some of my highlights…
- Rhiannon, who I travelled with from Paihia to Queenstown, had found a job in Wellington so I spent a lot of time catching up with her. She showed me all the best places to drink, one of which has to be Little Beer Quarter – a craft ale place with some pricey, but very nice beers. One was made with Earl Grey, so that was an obvious favourite for me.
- I met loads of cool people, some locals and some travellers. All of them were so welcoming inviting me to a fireworks party and keeping me stocked on beer.
- I took a trip to the Weta workshop; the place where they did all of the effects for Lord of the Rings – and many other films I might add. I took the tour around one of the show workshops. It was interesting to see how they’ve pioneered so many movie effects and it made me want to learn some kind of marketable artistic skill so that I could join the team.
- Mount Victoria – I was able to catch up with a couple of guys I travelled with on and off from Franz to Picton. On my final day in the city we climbed Mount Victoria and re-enacted the scene from Lord of the Rings; the “get off the road” scene. Good fun even if the scene was mostly a set which is no longer there. At the top of the mountain we enjoyed stunning views of cloud, made even more magical by lashings of rain.
- All Blacks! I went to the AB’s victory parade which was really fun, if not a little more sedate than I had imagined. The crowd were almost reserved compared to similar celebrations I’ve seen. The players were driven through the streets on the back of pick -up trucks. They put their skills to good use as the crowd threw balls for them to sign. Once the players had signed a ball they located the owner in the crowd and threw it back. It was all very civil, I feel that people would be fighting over the returned balls if the parade was in England.
- Parliament – I visited a session in the Parliament one day – why not!? It was quite dramatic with one woman screaming out from the gallery – she was promptly removed. There was also a fair bit of drama when the Prime Minister accused a guy in the opposition (could have been the leader) of supporting rapists and murderers. He then sat down very smugly and refused to retract the statement. The Speaker even refused to have it taken out of the records prompting the politician to storm out. One thing that struck me about the Parliament is that the chairs looked too comfortable. The PM would make some quip and flop down into his chair looking self satisfied and relaxed. It just felt as though they should at least try to look more interested and involved, but I suppose this is probably common to all government bodies. Bonus fact! New Zealand women where the first with the right to vote. On the crossings surrounding the Parliament the green man has been replaced with a small green suffragette!
- Te Papa – the national museum. I think I went to Te Papa every single day I was in Wellington. There was an incredible amount to see and aside from the standard natural history common to all large museums, the exhibits differed greatly from the ones I am used to seeing in the Northern Hemisphere. Highlights include: Maori history, Polynesian culture and migration, and the excellent exhibit about the ANZAC campaign in Gallipoli. I was so sad I didn’t get the chance to finish looking around the exhibition – one of the best I’ve ever seen. Weta created models of soldiers 2.5 human scale. These models were breathtaking, you could see the hair on their knuckles, the sweat on their brows and the tears in their eyes – truely moving.
Impromptu diving dislpay after the parade
Te Pehi Kupe's moko which he drew from memory whilst in Liverpool
In summary, Wellington was wonderful. It had the culture, food, art and history that I love about visiting cities. I would have liked to stay there longer but time is starting to run out on my little trip, and the road calls me north.
The Itinerary 