Greetings from New Zealand's wind swept Capital City - Wellington! Justyna and I have been in the city since Sunday night, what follows is a summary of what we've been up to.
On Monday we visited Te Papa, the national museum of New Zealand, a treasure trove of historical information, biological displays and sociological insight into the history and life of Aotearoa, New Zealand. The second floor of this museum deals with all things natural - NZ's wildlife, its landscape, and the geological history of the formation of the land. Up a flight of steps and you are transported to the Treasures of New Zealand - a section dedicated to Jade, or Greenstone, the precious stone that serves many purposes, from creating ornaments to making deadly weapons of war. This floor also houses all things related to Maori culture. On the fourth floor you'll find the history of migration into Aotearoa, from the early Pacific Islanders all the way down to the scots. There's also the intriguing question about whether or not NZ is a Pacific Island - geographically it certainly is, and the people and attitudes certainly remind me of Pacific Islands (or at least what I know of Pacific Islands from pop culture / movies / books). Something for you to think about!
After the museum we walked towards the "famous" Beehive Parliament building, and I must say I was rather disappointed by it - there's plenty of hype about the building in the Lonely Planet guide book, but I found it to be one of the less inspiring architectural features of this city. The Central Courts of Justice certainly deserve more attention than the Beehive. There'll be some photos soon - let me know which you like best!
On Tuesday took the historic Cable Car up to the Botanic Gardens, after which we crossed the city to climb Mt Victoria, which standing at less than 200m tall was an easy stroll for us veterans of Mt Nguaruhoe! The climb is very rewarding, you get to stroll through some nice woods where parts of The Fellowship of the Ring were filmed and though there are some steep bits its not such a hard climb. Once up top you get a 360* view over the city and the regional airport, as well as being able to look across Cook Straight at the South Island! After the climb we headed for the seafront to relax, and while sitting there I'm sure I saw a penguin swimming across the water just underneath us!
Today, Wednesday, we took a bus out to Owhera Bay for a long walk along the coast. We got our first glimpse of Mt Cook in the distance... we're a few short weeks away from getting there! The coastline is stunning, as are the secluded coves, but the water is really cold. I thought the Pacific was a warm ocean, but I guess I was wrong, I could hardly feel my feet after spending a few minutes wading in the shallows! The area we visited is a nature reserve and resting ground for Bull Fur Seals, but that's only during the winter months, so no seals for us, just the handful of people walking along the same track as us.
Tomorrow we take the Interislander Ferry to Picton, our first port of call in the South Island and base for our hike on the Queen Charlotte Track. I'll be uploading pictures from Wellington in the coming days as I haven't had time to process them yet, but I'll post a link as soon as I've got the photos done.
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