10 - Wellington

The flight to Wellington went without issue. Flying from the south to the north island was beautiful as we could see the coastline along the way. There were gorgeous beaches and turquoise waters the entire trip. Wellington itself is very hilly, green and beautiful. Despite the crystal blue skies, we decided to have a "day off" of vacationing. We checked into our hotel, took showers, naps and did laundry. That evening we ventured out for a nice dinner on Queen's Wharf. We tried the NZ delicacy of Whitebait, which is the frye of Inangi. Whitebait, is extraordinarily expensive, and thankfully, has no real taste. They mix it up fritter-style in an egg batter. All you taste is the egg. You eat the entire fish--head, eyeballs, everything. They are only 2 inches in length and the width of a Q-tip. We were glad when the meal was finished, and marked it off as a "been there, done that" experience, and not to be repeated.

The next day was another blue sky day! After sleeping late and watching a few episodes of The Dukes of Hazzard, we took a stroll along the wharf. Because it was Saturday, there were many people out enjoying the weather -- helicopter rides, kayaking, ice cream treats, sunning, reading in the park, rollerblading, etc. It was nice to be a part of it. We spent the afternoon in the Te Papa Museum (the Museum of New Zealand). Since Wellington is the Capital of New Zealand, it was the equivalent of the museums in Washington DC. It's also the center of the art scene for NZ, as evidenced by its sculptures and how funky meets formality at the National Library. Te Papa Museum was top notch, very well done. We saw about half of the museum in 4 hours, when kicked out at closing time. We learned a lot about New Zealand, the Maori, the flora/fauna, greenstone, and earthquakes/volcanoes. New Zealand runs across 2 plates, which means that it expands every year by an inch in width.

We then walked to the National Cathedral, which we expected to be magnificent, comparing it with the cathedral in Christchurch. When we arrived, we had to check the address to ensure we were at the right place. The church before us was small and plain., built in a 70s style. But in fact, it was the national cathedral. It was so lackluster that we quickly moved on to the Government Buildings.

There was a church on the Parliament Block that was lovely, the Parliament House was built with a beautiful swirling granite, very unique and eye-catching. Then there was the Beehive -- literally that's the name. It's the Executive Wing of the Parliament buildings. By early evening the winds had picked up and it was too chilly to continue walking around. We headed back to the hotel had an early dinner, as we needed to catch a 7:25am train in the morning. (We learned later that Wellington is notorious for its winds.) We didn't see much that Wellington had to offer, but what we did see was very satisfying. It's a lovely, active city. We'd like to spend more time here.