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| The Beehive - NZ Government Executive Office Bldg |
When we visited Wellington 3 ½ years ago, it was a cold,
damp, gray spring day in November. I had
chosen two half day excursions, one of which was called the Seal Coast Safari and the other a Wellington City Highlights tour. I just remembered Wellington as a busy city
with what seemed to be complicated traffic patterns. This year it was a glorious warm, but not
hot, summer day with bright blue skies.
But again, Barb and I chose different shore excursions. She decided to do the Seal Coast Safari which I had previously done and I elected to do
Wellington Harbour and Storm Coast with our friends, Sally and Ange. I had seen two or three excursions that
looked good so before booking I contacted them to see what they were doing and
if they had chosen one that was on my list, I decided to do that one. It’s more fun to do a tour with others.
We hopped on the bus and found it to be a huge bus, more
like a city commuter bus than a comfortable tour bus. It had two levels and I sat in the lower
level, realizing after I was seated that there were major barriers in the front
including a raised seat way up in front.
Windows were high which was good, but it just gave a good view of the
sky and the tops of mountains to my left.
The driver pointed out some of the key Wellington landmarks as we left
the city, including the national Parliament including a building called the
beehive because of its honeycomb appearance.
That makes sense as New Zealand is also noted for its superior, and very
expensive honey called Manuka Honey which is purported to have medicinal and
health value depending upon the grade.
As we traveled along the coast, out of Wellington, mountains
covered with the pretty (to us who don’t have it growing everywhere) shrub,
known as gorse. Along the mountains were
sheep and sure-footed goats, but taking pictures was nearly impossible because
of reflections from the other side and even the red metal grab poles for those
on a commuter bus who had to stand.
There was virtually no leg room and very small seats. The positioning of the back of the seat was
such that riding for about an hour and a quarter, was not pleasing my
back. It was unlike most tour buses and
unfortunately that was rather disconcerting.
It was hard seeing the scenery on the other side which had the great
view of the coastline.
Our destination was another small sheep farm, but the
difference between this and the one we visited near Auckland was that this was
perched on a hill overlooking the coast – a magnificent location that would
seem to make work much more tolerable.
Immediately we were invited inside for coffee or tea and some sweets¸
followed by the sheepdog demonstration.
Here though there were two friendly dogs which both enjoyed interacting with
people. One was called a stealer which
barked at the sheep to get them moving where the rancher wanted and the other
was silent as it worked. Both dogs
worked together to herd the sheep. All
this time, we had a wonderful view of the coast. Returning to Wellington required the same
route back so this time my side of the bus had the great view with virtually no
reflection so the scenery equalized out for both sides.
As I returned to the room, I was a bit surprised that Barb
wasn’t back as her excursion was to have been an hour shorter. However a few minutes later, I was leaving to
go for a late lunch when Barb hobbled down the hall. That is a story left for her to tell…..
After lunch, I boarded a free shuttle out of the port to
downtown Wellington. Barb originally
planned to come as well, but… Since Wellington port is an industrial one¸ pedestrians
are not permitted in most of the port area.
I was transported to a central area in downtown Wellington and
anticipated just wandering down the major thoroughfare looking in windows of
closed stores. However, to my surprise,
many stores were open on a Sunday afternoon.
There was a lot of foot traffic including quite a few from our
ship. Most stores, though, catered to
local needs like clothing, shoes, and jewelry stores, many jewelry stores!
When I came to the main business
street, I turned right because I didn’t have to cross a street. As I continued
a short way, some of the buildings look architecturally older and sure enough,
I realized I was approaching the government buildings included Wellington’s
capital building, popularly called “The Beehive” because of its round shape and
windows that make the façade look somewhat like a beehive. I passed a monument to World War I and World
War II dead and then on to the grounds of the capital. I noticed a number of people entering, so I
decided to follow. There was a sign
indicating free tours of the capital including one at 2 PM on Sundays. It was 2:03 when I entered but was too late
for that tour and was told there would be one an hour later. I really didn’t want to wait an hour for an
hour-long tour, so I watched a 10 minute DVD on the selection of Wellington as
the national capital as well as the construction of The Beehive. Before Wellington, Auckland as the largest city,
was capital in the 1860s. Wellington
became capital because it was more centrally located since it is at the
southern tip of the heavily populated North Island a short distance across the
Cook Strait from the South Island.
The Behive was constructed after a
damaging fire to the previous structure in 1992 and was opened for business in
1996. Next to The Beehive is the
Parliamentary Building and the National Library. Across the street is the older government
building, notable because it is the largest wooden structure in the Southern
Hemisphere and the second largest in the world.
After leaving the government
complex, I walked back down the main street, past where the bus was located and
noticed a street down to the busy harbor which had several restaurants as well
as kayaks for rent and a helicopter for sightseeing nearby. By then, it was time to return to the shuttle
for the quick transport back to the ship and to get ready, sadly, for our last
day in New Zealand, across the Cook Strait to Picton.
We have
totally enjoyed New Zealand and appreciated it even more this time than the
first, mostly because the weather was so much more cooperative. However, we look forward to our Australian
ports coming up later this week!
CT
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| New Zealand Fur Seal |
As Chuck
said, since he had so enjoyed the Seal
Coast Safari in 2009 and since I always love doing animal excursions, I
decided to do that excursion on this visit to Wellington. We were situated in several 4WD vehicles, and
with my knee issues, I opted to take the front seat in a vehicle that seated
eight in the back – a vehicle very similar to the one we had used in Moorea,
though here there were windows rather than the open sides as there had been in
Moorea. In the front seat I was able to
stretch my legs easily and move them so I wouldn’t get stiff on the bumpy
drive. This also gave people in the back
a little more leg room since there were only seven back there.
We set out
from the terminal and drove through a section of Wellington called Brooklyn,
which has streets named for US Presidents (and yes, Brooklyn was named for
Brooklyn, NY). In short order we were
at the top of a high overlook that gave us a magnificent view of Wellington –
though since we were facing East into the morning sun, the picture-taking wasn’t
ideal by a long stretch! Nevertheless,
we all appreciated the lovely scenery!
Our guide, Nathan, gave us an idea of what we were seeing and what we
would see; then another driver (apparently quite the comedian) had us all
participate in some kind of “ritual” that would bring us good luck for seal
viewing. It was some kind of Maori chant
and we all got quite a kick out of taking part in it.
Back in the
vehicle, we continued on our way, enjoying spectacular coastal scenery from the
top of the small mountains as well as during the steep and winding descent. Then the fun began. Traversing the sandy beach for what seemed
to be several miles, but which in all likelihood was only two or three, we
bounced our way across the rocky and sandy beach. At one point there was a part that he called
the roller coaster, and indeed it was very much like a wild mouse ride with all
the quick ups and downs. We passed a
dramatic fault line where there was one small home situated right where it met
the beach. We passed a couple of
fishermen setting up their reels while their dogs cavorted in the sand. In the distance we could see the “leaning
lighthouse”, not far from our destination.
During
different times of year there are different numbers of seals that make their
homes along the coast. Right now the
females and pups are farther south, so the number of seals was greatly reduced;
all of them were males. Unlike when we
were in Callao, Peru, there weren’t thousands crowding each other out on the
rocky coast, but also unlike Callao, we were able to get much closer to
them. We had been warned however not to
get closer than 20 yards and definitely not between the seals and the ocean as
that is their “safety net”. Nathan told
us that if a seal were to bite for some reason, being in that remote location,
they probably wouldn’t be able to get help in time and the bite would most
likely be fatal. (This reminded me of
the warnings about the Komodo dragons last year, but I have a feeling I’d
rather chance the seal than the dragon, given a choice!)
We all had a
wonderful time watching the seals basking in the sun and lolling lazily in the
water. Naturally as there is in every
crowd, one man seemed to think that the rules didn’t apply to him. He got way too close and scared several of the
seals away. Despite the warnings of the
guides and being called to retreat from the seals, he ignored them and as a
result the seal viewing was somewhat reduced.
Sometimes you wonder about people!
All too soon
we were climbing back into our vehicles for the flip-trip. Back across the sands we jounced, stopping
from time to time for photos. I hated to
bother Nathan, who had volunteered to snap pictures out the other side when
stopped so I tried to avoid asking him as much as possible. Then we found out that he had been a photo
journalist for a magazine! My camera
definitely would have been in excellent hands!
(Later we also found out that he was a lawyer who had published a book
about his 4000-mile trek along the Great Wall and that he had a final draft of
a second book ready to go to the publisher!
Quite a talented young man!)
We had a
brief stop at a farm where we could take pictures of a buck with a magnificent
rack. As I slid out of the front seat
onto the ground, I found that I was having trouble walking. My left foot really hurt! I took a couple of pictures and climbed back
into the front seat. When I sat down it
didn’t hurt so I wondered if I’d gotten some kind of cramp. But when we got out at the same place we’d
stopped the first time for photos (now that the sun was in the right place), I
realized that it really did hurt to walk!
I did as little as possible and climbed back in for our trip through Wellington
back to the ship.
Walking to
the ship was a challenge! While it didn’t
hurt to stand or sit, just the motion was really killing my foot! Long story short, as soon as I could, I
filled out an accident report with the Medical Center. I elevated and iced for the rest of the day,
taking it easy as much as possible. Nothing
broken, and too weird a spot for a sprain – just some kind of wrench or
something. Just enough to be very
inconvenient.
I was really
bummed not to be able to walk around Wellington. The weather was so spectacular and it was our
first chance to just poke around the city, but I decided to forego Wellington
on foot. With a full-day shore excursion
planned for our next port of Picton, I wanted to rest it up as much as
possible. However, Chuck made it sound
much worse than it was.
BT
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