Day 17 - Wellington, St Paul's (wooden) Cathedral, Parliament, Te Papa, Cable Car with Eagles tribute band via the Botanic Gardens

Wed Jan 17th (by Jono)

We woke up this morning (yes I am blogging this before going to bed! We've caught up at last) with the thought that we might see go for a walk into Wellington to see a few things and then maybe get over to the Weta workshop gift shop, and get some photos in with some of their props.

The weather was looking good and we set out following google maps. After a rather steep descent through forest on a dirt track we made it onto the Northern Walk, making a note that this was not the route to take to get home! 

Following google maps took us along the Northern walkway around the head of the gorge that we are staying in and up the other side of the gorge, (note: another steep side, this time going up). It did eventually afford us this lovely view of the other side of Wellington. It was a fabulous walk, we were in the middle of a city, and yet we could have been in the middle of the bush.

We knew tours of the parliament started on the hour, and due to our detours we'd missed the 1100 tour, so we detoured again to Old St. Paul's Cathedral. This is no longer used for services but is still consecrated. It was only supposed to be a temporary construction too; apparently when the wind blows the roof creaks so much that it's impossible to hear the sermon. It's a beautiful building and well worth a visit.

link to 3d panarama

There was a fantastic gift shop with lots of things made from Paua shell; Karen decided an angel with fern wings was a must have souvenir!

On to parliament to learn about democracy New Zealand style.

The beehive, NZ's parliament.

Unfortunately you can't take cameras or phones into parliament so we just had to settle for photos on the outside. We did get to see the Maori affairs select committee room, which was gorgeous. Lots of Maori carvings and weaving on the walls. We really wanted to take some photos!

We had our packed lunch on the lawn out front, and then headed off to Te Papa. This is the big museum in Wellington. Our first stop was the 4th floor to look at the Maori exhibits and see the bits about the treaty of Waitangi.

 Sadly again, no photos allowed! So you just have to settle for this picture of Karen in front of this waka. The waka was a war canoe from the 19th Century.
At this point I have to say this about the exhibit, it was a bit arty, and a bit light on the facts. From what I have seen and heard the Maori embraced European ways and engaged in trade of goods, tools and farming practices, but it all started to go wrong with mass immigration and loss of land. I am sure it wasn't all bad news, but the history is very complicated, and this exhibit did nothing to help. I guess that this is all still contentious and so no one wants to highlight  awkward issues.

Link to panorama

On the roof there's a view of the dock area.

 After this we went to see the Gallipoli campaign exhibit. They had these amazing more than life size dioramas that you could walk around and examine, while the audio told you what was happening in the voice of the figure portrayed. It was very moving.

 

 

War sucks. These soldiers died in large numbers, for no tactical gain. All the horrors of the 1st world war were visited on them, most of them wanted to go and were keen to fight. By the end of the campaign they were fewer in number, had lost many friends and endured  a great hardship.

 The Lonely Planet Guidebook recommended  Wagamama's for dinner, so as we were famished from all that walking we obliged. The recommendation was more to do with the great view, located right on the harbour front. As we pretty much had the place to ourselves we had the pick of the tables.
I then talked Karen into riding the cable car up to the botanical gardens.

A fantastic view, but the activities at the top were closed and the rain was starting up, so we walked back down through the gardens. On the way down, we found an Eagles tribute band doing a sound check for a concert tonight, so we sat and listened to a few songs, before we finally, as the heavens opened, resorted to an Uber home.

Eagles tribute band in the gardens