Welcome to Wellington. Windy Wellington I think it’s called and I can see why.
Brrr.
Wellington has to be the friendliest of all the NZ cities we have visited so far and we enjoyed the day.
The forecast for today was uncertain. The Captain said to expect inclement weather, so we were prepared.
An early breakfast in the International cafe including a coffee kick-start. Experience has taught us that you never leave home without having had coffee because you never know if or when you will get your next good one.
We disembarked about 9.00am or so and boarded one of the free shuttle busses that did a loop into town and back to the ship at 10-15 minute intervals all day.
Sorry for the poor quality of those photos BTW, they were taken through the tinted window of the Grand Princess.
At the drop-off location in the city we were met by some volunteers who answered our questions, gave us some maps of the city, provided some very useful tips, pointed us in the correct direction, and we set off exploring.
First thing that we wanted to see was the cable car that takes you to a high point with great views of the city.
Cable cars have a similar effect on me as gondolas, except that gondolas require you to hang suspended over a dangerous drop, while the cable car is firmly on the ground, albeit still going up a steep hill. So I felt a whole lot more comfortable, and much less like I was about to plunge to my death.
And then a funny thing happened. We stepped off the cable car to be met by our (Wellington Point) next-door-neighbour – Alan – who was volunteering as a Wellington local guide.
Except it wasn’t Alan, it was his doppelgänger. Looked like him, spoke like him, had a goatee like him, except his name tag said “Ray”.
Alan from Wellington Point has a doppelgänger named Ray in Wellington.
Spooky!
We had a good look around at the cable car museum, checked out the souvenir shop and took some photos … then took the cable car back to the bottom to start exploring.
There were a few things that we wanted to see (or had been recommended to us) including the Beehive (Parliament House), the wharf and the museum.
Skies were blue but it was very cold and windy in Wellington.
We found the Beehive and took some photos (and then found out later tonight that they do tours of the building but we missed out).
There are lots of beautiful buildings and statues around Wellington, all photo-worthy.
Wellington, NZ
We wanted to see the museum but it was at the other end of town, so we went in search of sustenance (coffee) first and supported the local economy, then kept heading down through the city.
In Brisbane, “Don’t walk” signs are a red LED outline of a man not walking, while the “Walk” sign is a green LED outline of a man stepping out and walking.
In Dunedin and Christchurch, their “Don’t walk” signs are similar to home, but their “Walk” sign is a green animated LED man walking – pretty cool!
In Wellington, the signs are represented by the red LED outline of a Māori man either not doing the Hakka (“Don’t walk”), or a green LED outline of a Māori man doing that Hakka (“Walk”).
We got down to the wharf and took some photos …
… and then circled around and went into the museum. We had been told that the museum is worth visiting and that it has an excellent ANZAC display which we were keen to see, especially as it is the day before Remembrance Day.
Free entry into the museum (really? Nothing is free any more) and we spent a delightful couple of hours looking at all of the different areas of the museum including whole areas on NZ history and immigration into NZ over the last 100 years.
The museum was very busy – I expect that is not uncommon – but there were a number of groups of children there including kindergarten kids, primary school kids and high-school kids. It was interesting to see some of the high school boys wearing traditional Māori school uniforms and sandals.
I mentioned earlier that Wellington has proved to be the most friendly and welcoming city so far.
In Dunedin and Christchurch we encountered a “Locals come first” attitude over and over, while in Wellington there were signs everywhere saying “Welcome Grand Princess”, and volunteer city guides at many of the key locations around the city.
In the museum we overhead a teacher instructing his primary school students that “… there is a cruise ship in town today with hundreds of international guests, so we all need to be on our best behaviour …” 🙂
Nice.
Final stop for the day was the bucket fountain which turned out to be a bust (or we are simply a cultural desert when it comes to bucket fountains) and we headed back to the free shuttle pick up point.
Back to the ship for a late, light lunch and to our cabin for a nap. It was a big walking day today, with both of us clocking up >20,000 steps and we were tired 🙁
Dinner in Botticelli (and another waiter who doesn’t know what a Lemon, Lime and Bitters is … do these people live in caves?) and a show at the Princess Theatre.
Tonight’s show was a violinist (“Fireworks on 4 strings”) who played a range of music from classical Brahms through to AC/DC.
A game show in the Explorer’s Lounge and we were in bed by 10.00pm.
Another great day in a beautiful – and friendly – city, and we consumed enough food to once again feed a small army. I have a working theory that walking 20,000 steps/day and climbing 157 flights of stairs will keep me from putting on too much weight and exploding, but it’s only a theory.
And I confess that I don’t climb 157 flights of stairs every day.
It’s either that or eat less, and I think it’s rude not to eat all three courses for every meal when someone has gone to the trouble of making it for me.
I did ask for my main meal tonight to be a “small serve”, but frankly I think it’s all too little, too late.
The Captain came on a few times during the afternoon/evening to announce that we will not be in Napier tomorrow and that we will have an unscheduled sea day due to the bad weather.
I’ve decided that I’m not going to panic until they put out the vomit bags, then I’ll know that it’s serious.
TTFN
#G&KDoNZ2022