February 2, 2018 – Wellington, New Zealand

Hailed by many as the “coolest little capital in the world,” Wellington, the capital of New Zealand, enjoys a splendid setting. Nestled at the southwestern tip of the North Island, it enjoys views of Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range. The world’s southernmost capital city of an independent nation, Wellington’s history is embodied in its rich collection of architecture, from classic weatherboard wooden cottages and the clean lines of art deco to Edwardian and postmodern wonders. The city’s neoclassical Parliament House stands out and is listed as a Heritage New Zealand building for its history and cultural significance.

The weather looked promising this morning but got chillier and cloudier as the day went on. It was about 63 degrees. We went out on our own in the morning and then came back just in time to catch our afternoon tour.

The port is a working port, so you cannot walk through the port, of which apparently, we have no pictures. The port provided a shuttle bus to the downtown shopping area which was free.

Once we got off of the shuttle bus our first destination was their trolley or funicular. It was only a 6-minute ride, but it took you from sea level up to the botanical garden. As you went up they had light shows in the tunnels the cable car went through. Construction started in 1899 and it was opened on February 22, 1902. In 1933 electricity replaced steam as the power for the cable car. In 1978 the original system made its last run and was replaced by a new Swiss designed system which is what is there today.

Where you got off of the cable car was the entrance to the Wellington Botanic Garden. It was established in 1868 and managed by the New Zealand Institute. Wellington City Council has managed the garden since 1891. The garden covers 25 hectares and is a unique landscape of protected native forest, exotic trees, plant collections and stunning seasonal displays of bulbs and annual plants. We took this all the way through and could not believe the beauty that we saw.

At the end of the garden there is Bolton Street Cemetery.  This trail gives a glimpse into the life and times of a growing colony. The cemetery is as old as the settlement of Wellington, founded in 1840. Stores told by the headstones reflect the growing pains of the colony – poor sanitation, lack of welfare, fire, racial tensions, as well as the growing prosperity in this port town. Although over 8500 people were buried in the cemetery, many of the oldest graves are no longer visible as the simple wooden picket fences, erected to deter grazing stock, have disintegrated. Only 1334 gravestones are still visible and less than half of these are in their original location.

Our next stop was at the Parliament, as we read they had a free tour. We were not able to take any pictures inside, so the pictures are all from the outside. There are three buildings that make up New Zealand’s Parliamentary precinct – the Executive Wing (the Beehive), Parliament House and the Parliamentary Library. The Executive Wings houses the offices of the Prime Minister and Cabinet Members. The Beehive was designed by Sir Basil Spence, one of Britain’s leading architects, and was opened by Queen Elizabeth II in 1977.

Parliament House is an Edwardian neo-classical building. Construction began in 1912, after a fire destroyed the original wooden building. In 1918, Parliament moved in, although the work was not completed until 1922. Parliament House and the Parliament Library sit on 417 base isolators, designed to protect them from earthquakes. The isolators were installed during the refurbishment. They support the entire weight of both buildings and absorb movement form earthquakes measuring up to 7.5 on the Richter scale. Base isolators are large bearings which consist of layers of rubber and steel surrounding an inner core of lead. Invented by New Zealand scientist, the late Dr. Bill Robinson, they are now used around the world.

The Parliament Library was designed by Thomas Turnbull in Victorian Gothic style and was built in the late 1800s. Iron fire doors largely protected it from the fire of 1907. The Parliamentary Library provides research services for members of Parliament and parliamentary staff. Its collections include over 500,000 books.

From there we walked downtown. Here are some of the buildings that caught our eye.

We then caught the shuttle back to the port, and were going to skip the afternoon tour, but it was still there so we caught that bus. The reason we wanted to take it was one of the stops was on top of the mountain, Mt. Victoria, where you can see all over the area.

Mount Victoria is 643 feet high immediately to the east of central Wellington. The original Māori name is Tangi Te Keo, though Matairangi is also used. The first name derives from a legend in which two taniwha tried to escape from Wellington Harbor which was then an enclosed lake. One taniwha became stranded and died, and its spirit turned into a bird named Te Keo, which flew to the top of the mountain and mourned (tangi). The second name translates as "to examine the sky".

The road up to the mountain and back were very narrow, but there were some really good examples of their houses that we photographed.

We then drove down the main road of Wellington before they dropped us off where we could catch the shuttle. The tour was going on to the cable car and the gardens.

We got back to the ship about 2:30 and had lunch. Tomorrow we are in Christchurch. We miss all our friends and will be glad to see you all when we get back.