Day 9, October 26, 2018 - Wellington
 |
| New Zealand's Parlament Buildings affectionally called The Bee Hive |
Wellington, New Zealand’s capital and most southern city on
the North Island, boasts cool and crisp weather all year round. Summer
temperatures never rise about 77 degrees, and winter temps never go below 39
degrees. It became the capital city in 1865 and also serves as a large port for
importing and exporting goods. It is a
very clean, modern city with a population of almost 400,000, alive with
tourism, the film industry and many cultural activities. While Mary Jo and
Richard enjoyed the afternoon learning about this as the capital of Middle
Earth in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Glenn, Trudy and I did a lot of walking
exploring the City of Wellington itself.
From the boat we took a shuttle to the government buildings,
then we walked the bustling streets to the Old Bank Shopping Arcade. The
building, originally a bank, is constructed in the form of a triangle to fit
between the streets that merge at that area. It is now filled with retail shops
and restaurants. Trudy and I looked at
the clothes in a few stores, but neither one of us wanted to pay the $300+
price tag for the blouses or pants! We
then meandered over to the famed Te Papa Museum, a national museum dedicated to
the country’s culture and environment with special emphasis on the Maori
inhabitants. We spent almost two hours
there exploring the various displays about the intertwined history of the Maori as the first
inhabitants and the Europeans, the rich culture of the Maoris, the coming of
the Europeans and how that affected their way of life. That history is rather
similar to the encroachment upon Native American lands in USA history, though
some of the Maori tribes really were more peaceful and worked for many years to
achieve their rights and lands without a lot of bloodshed.
From there we walked to where we could board a cable
car up 390 feet for a beautiful view of
the city and harbor, walked along the path lined with huge pohutukawa trees
(trees that seem to have a very short trunk with many large limbs growing
upward and outward) and a gorgeous rhododendron tree in bloom with deep pink
flowers. The cable car museum was also very interesting, as it showcased the
use of cable cars in many New Zealand cities until its demise around the time
of WWII. We then walked back to catch the
shuttle, stopping at a souvenir store to browse through the many New Zealand
treasurers. |
| Pohutukawa tree |
Cocktails before dinner brought all six of us back together
with stories to tell of our day. We’ve been meeting at the same bar all week
mainly because of the wonderful waiter from India named Cyril. Richard and Mary
Jo raved about their tour to The Lord of the Rings, learning so much of what
was done behind the scenes of that trilogy such as the selection of the actors,
how the actors were made to look like little hobbits, how the blood was made,
the challenges of the scene rolling down the steep hill, trying on some of the
costumes, etc. etc. At our wonderful evening dinner, our waiters
are simply exceptional – so accommodating, attentive and fun! It’s been another fantastic day in New
Zealand!!
Day 10 – October 27, 2018 – Akaroa
This morning our ship slips into Akaroa Harbour which is
actually a large, extinct, volcanic caldera which erupted millions of years
ago. But because of recent earthquakes
in the area, we are unable to dock; so the ship anchors in the middle of the harbor
and we tender about 10 minutes into the city (meaning a covered ships life boat
holding about 150 people or so takes us from the ship to the shore). Akaroa is a small, quaint little town with a
population of less than 700, sitting in the cove of the harbor completely surrounded
by rather steep, high, sometimes rugged, unpopulated mountainS of both trees
and plains. It was originally settled by
the French in 1840 (but always remember, the Maori were really here first) and
is the only French settlement in New Zealand, so there is a bit of a French
influence here. Currently the rather
short one-way main street hosts a plethora of boutique-type stores and
restaurants, all with outdoor seating.
Then, there’s also the many excursion store fronts bidding for our
business.
 |
| Akaroa Harbour |
Bob and I enjoyed a walk down main street and then decided
to take the adventure with the Akoraoa-Jet boat. The boat was at high speed across the harbor
to where we stopped to see the scenic Nikau Palm Gully, the Dan Rogers Bluff
and the affectionately called elephant trunk formation. At the Cathedral Cave,
we saw dozens of nesting cormorants and a few little blue penguins, as well as
a sea lion in the rocks and a sheep on the cliffs. Other interesting sites were
the marine salmon and paua (very popular beautiful iridescent blue shells)
farms. We did not see the endangered Hector’s dolphins … probably because we
were zipping through the water very fast! The thrilling part, of course, was
the high-speed, 360 degree turns done at the end which got many of us a bit
wet!! After a delicious sea-food basket
and a beer for lunch, we tendered back to the ship to relax a bit before
meeting up with the others for cocktails.
 |
| Generally called the Elephant's trunk |
Richard and Mary Jo took a bus to Christchurch, through the
mountains about 40 miles away. Christchurch, established by the English, is New
Zealand’s second-largest city and has a Victorian flare with lovely gardens. On September 4, 2010, a magnitude 7.1
earthquake struck Christchurch causing widespread damage and minor injuries.
Just six months later on February 22, 2011, another very destructive earthquake
killed 185 people and caused thousands of buildings across the city to either
collapse or suffer severe damage. Actually,
4,558 earthquakes of over magnitude 3.0 were recorded in this entire region
from September 2010 to September 2014! So by 2013, 1,500 buildings had been
demolished, which has lead to the recovery which is still underway. Christchurch also has a history of being
involved in the exploration of the Antarctic.
Richard and Mary Jo thoroughly enjoyed their journey to
Christchurch, as the first portion of the bus trip went through beautiful
mountains looking back at the gorgeous Akaroa Harbour and town. They found Christchurch on a plateau surrounded
by fields of many cattle and sheep as well as asparagus fields which were being
picked at this time. They found a lot of
evidence of the damaging earthquake seven years ago but also saw beautiful
buildings and gardens. Glenn and Trudy
went into Akaroa, attended Mass and enjoyed a leisurely lunch in town. This
afternoon Trudy also treated herself to a spa at The Lotus Spa on board … I’m
envious!
It’s getting to be a nice routine as we enjoy a cocktail
while catching up on each other’s activities, then down to another scrumptious
dinner. Overall it’s been so enjoyable
that I have to pinch myself to make sure this is real! God Bless.
No comments:
Post a Comment