Moving Along
We are moving along to catch the ferry in Wellington, but not before we get to have a look around the capital city of New Zealand first.
And a beautiful city it is too.
There is much to see in Wellington, as one would expect in the Capital.
One first place to visit when we arrive is Mount Victoria.
The view is awesome. Overlooking the town and harbour with the airport facing out to the sea. Once more we take lots of photos and soak up the fresh, crisp air. And crisp it is indeed, quite chilly.
As we head into the township, we stop off at the Botanical Gardens. And more photos. At least this gave Arthur the opportunity to test out the ‘Macro’ on his new camera. It took some gorgeous photos of the roses. I have added a separate album, just for the flowers.
The gardens were a very relaxing area to get in some exercise by walking around and checking out all the different varieties of flora.
Leaving the gardens, we head into the main business area of Wellington. Here we get to see the ‘Beehive’ and other government buildings.
There is one interesting building that looked like it was a rendered brick or cement one, but in reality it is built solely of timber. Even the chimney’s are not real as Wellington is earthquake prone, these must, by law be artificial. Note that on each level the windows are different in design.
Travelling on the coach back to our accommodation for the night at the Bay Plaza Hotel, we pass the waterside area. There is a lot of reclaimed land in this area and there is plenty of building going on. There is also a new baseball stadium being built.
Later in the day, Terry our coach driver encourages us to go to Te Papa as he highly recommended it. It was worth making the effort, even though we ran out of time to see all that we wanted to. (Another reason to go back to New Zealand). At the entrance to the museum we went downstairs to have a look at the foundations of the building. There is a viewing area so that you can see the ‘shock absorbers’ at the base of the building. It is compulsory for all buildings to have these now because of the area being very prone to earthquakes.
Then we moved into the main area of the museum. Wow! Indeed. There is the usual area set apart for the Maori displays. These were very well done. There was a meeting house there that is built as the original tribes would have built them – with the flax roofing and walls. There was also a Maori boat that had flax sails too.
Another interesting exhibit is the corrugated iron Holden Wagon. Very well done.
We then went back to the Hotel for dinner and a well earned rest.
Next day we headed for the ferry to cross to the South Island and Picton.
The ferry trip was enjoyable. The views as we cross Cook Strait into the sheltered waters of Queen Charlotte Sound and the bush clad hillsides remote bays and isolated holiday homes were breathtaking.
In Picton, we are welcomed by our new coach driver – Gordon.
After exploring Picton we drive onto Blenheim, for more sightseeing.
We visited the Montana Winery for a wine tasting lesson and afternoon tea. Very yummy.
Our overnight accommodation is at Blenheim Country Lodge Hotel.