NZ +13: Wellington

This is how you spell it...



...so I was right.

We left it on the 0955 train into Wellington, as the station is about 90 seconds walk from R&M's house and there seemed little point in arguing with traffic and trying to find a parking space in what is, after all, the capital city.

The first important building you see when you get off the train (apart from the station, of course, is/are (?) the Houses of Parliament. There seems to be very little security and you can just walk up to them and take photos. In London, you would be lucky to escape alive if you got that close, especially if you were carrying a rucksack and looked vaguely foreign.

It's separated into three distinct looking parts:

On the left as you look, The Beehive...



In the middle, the colonial looking bit...



And on the right, the bit that looks like some kind of cross between Trumpton Town Hall and a wedding cake...



I haven't looked at any government websites or leaflets, so don't know what function each bit performs... You'll either have to look it up yourselves, speculate or not care.

Reassuringly, they have this plaque outside saying, rightfully, who's still in charge!



God bless yer, ma'am!

We then walked the length of the waterfront to get to Te Papa, the National Museum of NZ.



Inside you can explore the history of the country, its predisposition to earthquakes (even standing in a simulation of one), explore the NZ rainforest (even standing on a rickety rope bridge...



...which isn't really rickety and isn't really made of rope), shear a sheep by barcode...



(which with me doing it is almost certainly less painful to the sheep than had it been a real one...), explore the history of the shawl as a garment, look at the development of the New Zealand Post Office and its stamps, learn about Maori art and have a cup of tea.

All of which we did.*

Now, out of Te Papa (Our Place), and past this building...



...which, unless there is more than one imposing looking KPMG building in Wellington, is where my sister worked when she lived here a few years back. She will no doubt be the first to correct me if I'm wrong!

Now from a distance...



...you can't see the wires and this piece of Minnellium art is a little more impressive than the chip cone in Christchurch. You either think it's going to fall on you at any minute, or you're going to trip up amusingly trying to take a photo of it. Whichever way, it's in the Civic Square and on the way to...



... the cable car which rises into the hills behind Wellington to the Botanical Gardens and the Observatory...



You get an excellent view over the city and the bay...



...from several angles...



...and you also get to see the Sundial of Human Endeavour. Or possibly the Sundial of Human Involvement. I can't quite remember. Anyway, what you had to do was stand on the day of the year, which was carved into the ground and point your hands above your head, and it told you the time. And this is me trying to do it and take a photo at the same time...



...so you can tell what time I took it!

Back on the train to Robin and Maureen's soon and then off north to New Plymouth tomorrow. Hoping to arrive in Auckland on Friday.

Keep commenting!



*except for the shawl thing, which we gave a miss...