Cable Car view.
We arrived in Wellington to beautiful, sunny weather. It was so fun to come into the city on the ferry, because we got a great view of it from the boat. We were so lucky in Wellington, because we were able to stay with another great host - Allie's childhood friend, Erin. She lived right in the heart of the city in a very unique and fun area called Cuba street. She also had the cutest apartment! Before arriving in Wellington, several people had told us it was a combination of San Francisco and Seattle, and I can definitely see why! Walking around with Erin the first night there were so many cute restaurants and bars that she pointed out - also a lot of very unique and cool artwork. The city had a great vibe. We also saw some of the impacts of the recent earthquake in Wellington. Erin had some damage in her apartment and she also pointed out the buildings that were closed due to potential issues after the quake.
After getting a preview from Erin, the next day Allie and I went out to explore the city while she worked. And we learned why it is nicknamed Windy Welly - it is definitely windy! With Wellington being New Zealand's capital, we walked down along the river to get to the Beehive which is a part of the New Zealand Parliamentary precinct. We missed the tour, but looked around in the lobby for a bit on our own. The Beehive is the Executive Wing of the parliamentary complex and looks exactly like a real life beehive. It is a very famous and recognizable building in New Zealand. From there we headed for the Wellington Cable Car (shockingly got lost trying to find it), which transports passengers up a steep hill in the city to get to the Botanic Gardens and the Cable Car Museum, among other attractions. After walking around the Botanic Gardens for awhile we headed back into the city to check out the Te Papa Museum - New Zealand's National Museum. This was so worth it! The museum was incredible - six floors of a wide variety of displays, from information about New Zealand's natural environment to Maori culture. We first started in the natural environment area and learned more about New Zealand's earthquakes. It was incredible. Since the recent 7.8 earthquake, New Zealand has had thousands of aftershocks - many of which Wellington has felt (it sits right on a fault line). After learning more about earthquakes (and scaring ourselves) we headed to learn more about the transformation of New Zealand (around 85 percent of the land was covered in forest before people came, now only about 25 percent remains forest). We also were able to learn more about the Maori culture. After a great visit to the museum we headed back to Erin's and she cooked us a delicious meal of mussels - they have big giant green ones here!
Wellington was a great city to explore - not too big and not too small, with a great artsy and funky feel. We were very grateful to our host, Erin, for showing us her amazing city! Now onto Auckland.
Highlights:
1. Staying with Erin - she was an amazing host!
2. Te Papa museum - I'm not one for museums, but this one was great! (And free).
Lessons Learned:
1. New Zealand doesn't mess around with earthquakes.
2. We now have traveled via almost every form of transport - ferry, car, plane, bus, train, cable car, boat!
3. Everyone here is so friendly! People are happy to give us directions or answer questions anywhere we go.
4. New Zealand has great cafes - every town we have gone they have great places to enjoy a cup of coffee.
Cute street in Wellington.
Art in the city.