Wellington…

We had been advised to take an early ferry out of Picton as the views in the sound are stunning. They are stunning, even if the morning is overcast!

I did see two dolphins and it did brighten up nearer Wellington. The ferry trip was three and a half hours – bit like Belfast to Cairnryan really!

Wellington was declared a city in 1840, and was chosen to be the capital city of New Zealand in 1865 in place of Auckland. It is named for the 1st Duke of Wellington. As the nation’s capital, the Government, Parliament and most of the public service are based in the city. The four cities comprising Greater Wellington have a total population of 420,100 (June 2018), with the urban area containing 99.6% of that population. Enough of the stats (thank you Wikipedia), what did we get up to during our short visit….

The Waterfront – It would appear that considerable amount of investment has gone in to restoring the wharves and cargo sheds along the waterfront to provide a pedestrianised spacious and entertaining seaside area. The place was buzzing on our visit with many buskers, entertainers, street art, food stalls and markets.

At night, the Jupiter bollards are lit from within to help make the public waterfront area a welcoming and secure space to be in.

Some very good buskers provided entertainment in the sunshine

Art installation combining science, art and imagination – *4 Globes: Telluric Insurgencies Redux*, by Auckland artist Ruth Watson, outside Te Papa.

Hikitia – Australasia’s only working floating crane. The ship was constructed in Paisley in 1926 by Fleming and Ferguson and the crane was built by Sir William Arrol of
Glasgow. She arrived in Wellington on 21st December 1926 after a voyage of 83 days.
Currently totally steam powered by two oil fired boilers, Hikitia displacement is 1000 tonnes, 60m long, the jib is 30m above the water and the crane was designed to lift 80
tons at 6m out from the side rail.

Wellington Museum is on Queens Wharf. It occupies the 1892 Bond Store, a historic building on Jervois Quay. It was recently voted as one of the top 50 museums in the world The Times.

There is plenty for all the family to see and enjoy, including, for Paul, a vintage car display!

How cute is this caravan combi – look great at Goodwood Revival!

The cable car – offers a five minute ride from the heart of city centre through the hillside terraced houses of Kelburn to the lookout perched high above the city, giving easy access to the Botanic Garden, cable car museum and Space Place.

The cable car was opened in 1902, but despite its name was a combined cable tramway and funicular system. Designed by James Edward Fulton (1854–1928) and constructed by Maurice O’Connor (1840–1921), the line passes through three tunnels and over three viaducts.

The botanical gardens covers 25 hectares of specialised plant collections, colourful botanical displays, unique landscape and protected native forest.

Space Place, at the Carter observatory, is named after an English benefactor. It has a digital full dome planetarium and interactive galleries and the Thomas Cooke telescope. He was a Yorkshire telescope maker….

Thomas King Observatory was opened in 1912. It was owned by the Wellington Philosophical Society and was well used in the 1920s and 30s for astronomical
observations. Although renovated it is not currently in use.

The Dominion Observatory was the second observatory in Wellington. It was built in 1907 and originally named the Hector Observatory until 1925. It is now used by private businesses.

This human sundial was gifted to the gardens to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Plimmer family. To use the sundial, you stand on the correct date on the ground, turn your back to the sun and clasp your hands together above your head. They will cast a shadow onto the correct time – we can guarantee it works!!

This enclosure is operated by New Zealand’s National MetService. Observations commenced here in January 1928. The instruments measure rainfall, air temperature and pressure,
earth temperatures and evaporation. The AWS transmits readings once a minute via cellular communications.

New Zealand Parliament – there are four buildings that house the parliament, with very differing architecture – when we arrived to see them we discovered there was free tour! Through airport type security, bags, cameras, coats, phones deposited for a numbered lanyard, we were guided by Megan through the three main buildings and each of the houses and library. Sorry, no internal photography allowed.

The Beehive – opened in 1977 it has 10 floors above ground and four floors below and houses the executive offices of the government and the banqueting hall

Parliament House was first occupied in 1918. The previous building was destroyed by fire in 1907. It’s an Edwardian neo-classical building and houses the Chambers, committee rooms and Galleria of past Prime Ministers and Parliament members

Parliament Library is the oldest the three main buildings on the Parliament complex. Completed in 1899, it stands to the north of Parliament House. The library was originally designed as a three-storey building by Thomas Turnbull in Gothic Revival style.

Bowen House is a 22-storey office building. It was the temporary home of Parliament in the 1990’s while Parliament House and the Library were re-strengthened. Today it provides select committee rooms and office space for many MPs and staff.

Established in 1854, the New Zealand Parliament is one of the oldest continuously functioning legislatures in the world and is modelled on the Westminster system. Māori were represented from 1867, and in 1893 women gained the vote. The upper house was abolished on 1st January 2952.

A must do tour for visitors and locals alike! We did catch the speaker, Trevor Mallard, who appeared to be leaving in an armful of shirts, dressed in his cycle gear!

Sun sets on a great day and wonderful evening making new friends

We love more than anything how our lives interwine with those of our friends and family. Way back in April we made a connection to Helen, Pete, Brian and Nicole, who live in Wellington, through friends Nigel and John from Leeds! When Helen learnt we were visiting she invited us to visit – you all know the Bears’…. if there is an invitation we are at it!! We had a lovely evening making their acquaintance, enjoying a great BBQ and having fun together. We thank them so much for opening their home to us.

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