15.07 Wellington: Hello Again

7.A Wellington's CBD as Viewed from Kelburn Station,
at the Top of the Incline of the Wellington Cable Car Ltd

Last week Jean, our two daughters, and I visited Wellington, New Zealand's capital city. Jean and I had previously visited Wellington (Blogpost 13.21) in early winter 2013, at least meteorologically speaking. Speaking in plain weather terms, our arrival in Wellington on 4 February 2015 was accompanied by chill winds that made it seem as if it were winter again in Welly. The wind gusts in the city's narrow streets may have reached 40+ mph (64+ kph). In any event we were blown to our lodging on Manners Street, quite near the city's popular restaurant-and-bar district along Cuba Street.

Shortly after checking in, we headed toward the Wellington Cable Car Ltd station on Lambton Quay in Wellington's CBD (Central Business District). Wellington's red cable cars serve as icons of the city. The photo above fails to show a red car. But you should be able to see between the rails the funicular cable, which does the work but gets no fame for its efforts. The photos below show a car and the new top station (Kelburn Station), which was under construction during our previous visit. The new station building hasn't obliterated the cable car museum, which remains adjacent to Kelburn Station.

7.B Overview of Kelburn Station, Wellington Cable Car Ltd

7.C Interior & Exterior Views of Kelburn Station

7.D A View of Wellington from Kelburn Station
 with Victoria University Playing Field in the Near Distance

Often tourists who ride to the top of the Wellington Cable Car come to visit Carter Observatory, the former national observatory, whose planetarium happened to be closed during our visit. Learning that, we walked downhill into the grounds of the Wellington Botanic Garden. The ducks had gotten to the grounds first. The grounds are attractive, but I still believe the Hamilton Gardens (Blogpost 13.02) are leagues ahead of what I saw in Wellington or what I've seen, for that matter, almost anywhere else.

7.E Viewers and the Viewed in the Wellington Botanic Garden

7.F Fronds and Waterfall in the Wellington Botanic Garden

In the evening we dined at an excellent and relatively inexpensive Italian restaurant, Scopa. On a subsequent evening we ate at another Italian place, also on Cuba Street and also excellent, Ombra. I can't help but mention these two places because all our prior experience in Kiwi Italian restaurants had been unsatisfactory. Generally, visitors should not expect well-made Italian or Mexican fare in New Zealand, but obviously we've now identified two exceptions to that rule. In every other ethnic cuisine, especially Asian, the traveler will almost always come away well satisfied. In that vein we had an excellent Malaysian dinner at the plain but hearty Aunty Mena Vegetarian restaurant, also on Cuba Street.

The day following our arrival was relatively calm and quite bright, a delightful day for a visit to Zealandia, an eco-island sanctuary, nestled in metro Wellington. During our previous stay in New Zealand Jean and I had twice visited the country's largest eco-island, Maungatautari (Blogpost 13.08). Whereas Maungatautari occupies a mountaintop region, Zealandia occupies a valley once reserved for two water reservoirs, reservoirs serving Wellington. Before the reservoirs were built, the surrounding hillsides had been stripped of their native, climax vegetation. 

Removed from water service and placed within an Xcluder fence, the sanctuary operates under a 500-year plan to restore the pre-human ecology of this part of New Zealand. Nearly extinct bird species have been placed in Zealandia as part of that plan. Anyone briefly visiting New Zealand who wants an introduction to its ancient, unique ecology and to its avian life should visit Zealandia (considered one of Wellington's top five attractions). We spent a good afternoon exploring the grounds and the museum, having the benefit of a friendly, informative tour guide for part of our visit.

7.G   An Aged Takahe in Zealandia

7.H New Zealand Kaka at Sweetwater and Pellet Feeders

7.I New Zealand Kaka in Zealandia

7.J  Suspension Bridge and Walkway over the Upper Dam in Zealandia

7.K View over the 'Bush' in Zealandia

7.L  Upper Reservoir in Zealandia

7.M View over the Zealandia 'Bush' towards Wellington's CBD

Besides visiting Zealandia during our first full day in Wellington, we also walked about the waterfront, as the photos below can testify. With the development of containerization (See Blogpost 15.01) much of Wellington's waterfront has been freed up for the likes of museums, outdoor art, restaurants, and pedestrian-friendly walkways and plazas.

7.N A 'White Whatnot' Fountain along Wellington's Waterfront

7.O A Pedestrian Bridge along Wellington's Waterfront

7.P A Blue Bubble Taxi in the Foreground & Wellington's CBD in the Background,
Seen from Mt Victoria, First Photo Stop on the Hop On Hop Off Tour

On our second full day in Wellington we booked a Hop On Hop Off tour of the city. The Hop On Hop Off (HOHO) tour enables tourists to get off at designated tour stops (like Zealandia or Te Papa, New Zealand's national museum), catching another HOHO van an hour later (or after a longer interval, if one wishes). We had thought a foursome of tourists might pose a problem for this type of tour. What if we got off at a tour spot, then an hour later, when we wanted to board a following van, we found only two seats available? It turns out that that isn't a problem. Hop On Hop Off commits to providing sufficient seating at any point where a group of customers are expected to hop on.

With that in mind we spent time in the Miramar district at the Weta Cave, a shop and information center for those interested in Wellington's thriving film industry. 'Wellywood' (as Miramar or even Wellington is called) flourishes in no small part because of the work of Sir Peter Jackson, who brought The Lord of the Rings to movie screens, basing his film operations here. There are other film entrepreneurs in Wellywood. Among the large film-industry enterprises are Weta Digital, Weta Workshop, and Park Road Post Production. My casual impression is that Wellywood is more collegial than Hollywood, perhaps because Wellywood is younger and smaller. Whatever, may the collegiality remain.

On our HOHO touring we also visited the birthplace and childhood home of Katherine Mansfield, New Zealand's best known writer, author of numerous short stories set either in New Zealand or in the Europe to which she fled. She died of TB in her mid-thirties. Her birthplace home has been restored by a trust, but the trust can do nothing about the motorway that abuts the back of the home. Nor has it endeavored to brighten up the interior (nor should it), which Mansfield called a 'dark little cubby hole'. The home has excellent exhibits and info boards and, I believe, will satisfy almost any Mansfield aficionado. 

7.Q Katherine Mansfield Birthplace,
25 Tinakori Rd, Thorndon, Wellington

Our last hop off was at Te Papa, where we spent much of an afternoon. Te Papa is free, except for special exhibits. One could easily spend several days in the museum, which has a range of historical, ethnographic, science, and natural history exhibits, as well as an extensive art gallery. I'm probably missing aspects of the museum's cultural enterprise and, of course, that's not counting the on-premises cafes and store. In any event, Te Papa is well worth a visit or -- correct that -- several visits. If we return to Wellington, I'm sure we'll return to Te Papa. Hopefully, we won't get hacked by this guy, below.

7.R A 'Happy Camper' (Just kidding!) at Te Papa,
a Testament to the Output and Strength of Wellywood

Warm regards,

Tim (& Jean)

PS. I'll close with a happy picture of a natural emblem of New Zealand, the koru. The photo was taken during our visit to Zealandia. Koru are produced by a number of indigenous New Zealand ferns. As I recall, New Zealand reportedly hosts over 700 fern species, including ten fern tree species. The fern shown here isn't a fern tree, but it's impressive.

7.S  Koru in Zealandia