We tried to get an earlier start this morning as it is our only full day in Wellington.
After a nice breakfast in the flat, we walk down to ‘Te Papa Tongarewa’, the National Museum and Art Gallery of New Zealand. A small portion of the museum is under construction, but the 4th floor houses a gallery devoted to the history of the native population and later immigration into New Zealand. It is funny in a way, because I always thought of Australia and New Zealand having very common heritage. However, Australia was populated by native Aboriginal tribes, whereas, New Zealand is a South Pacific Island with the natives, Maori, being of Polynesian descent. Both had their cultures decimated by the arrival of Europeans in the 18th centuries. The area of the museum dedicated to the Maori culture, has actually been created in co-operation with the native people and most exhibits use the Maori language first with English as a translation. Very well done.
After several hours in the museum we work our way towards the Botanical Gardens with a brief stop at the Little Beer Quarter for a snack. We had an unusual dish of some type of fried onion/dough thing that was quite nice.
We take the tram up to the Botanical Gardens, very high up over the city and wind our way down through the gardens. After a several mile hike, we make it back to our apartment.
We do have a lovely dinner at Bresolin, the cute restaurant across from our apartment. We’re heading to the south island in the morning
Mary
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After some morning laundry chores and breakfast in the apartment we began the day with a walk to New Zealand’s national museum, Te Papa Tongarewa. It’s quite a striking structure and is situated on the Wellington waterfront. The top floor provides a beautiful overlook of the city and water. The city itself is very hilly, reminiscent of Pittsburgh’s perspective from the point – bigger though.
One floor of the museum is dedicated to what they’ve labelled ‘mana’ with reconstructions of Maori homes & worship centers. Incredible. There is also an exhibit on earthquakes (something Wellington is way too familiar with) where you go into a model of a small home in the city and experience the violence of the ’86 (I think that’s the year) quake. The building shakes & tumbles. Very cool! Another great exhibit covers the Gallipoli disaster of WWI. Sobering.
On my list for Wellington was a craft beer joint called the ‘Little Beer Quarter’, known for it’s selection of New Zealand beers – many obscure. Home run! A great tender at the bar and some fantastic selections – Wellington has a nice craft beer scene and it’s well represented at the LBQ. One of the drafts was a RARE draft Biere de Garde from a local brewer – as good as anything I’ve had in BE or FR. Nice. We shared a table in the sun with a Kiwi and his blind dog. Needless to say, the conversation was interesting.
Later, we enjoyed a nice walk through the Botanical Garden and by the ‘Beehive’ where NZ’s parliament meets before heading back to the ranch and dinner. A nice day.
Dick