Wellington, New Zealand (April 2018)

Wellington is the capital of New Zealand. Previously, the capital was Old Russell at the top of North Island in 1840. It was relocated to Auckland in 1841, but relocated again to Wellington in 1865. Wellington was chosen solely because of its location in the middle of two islands for government officials to be able to travel to the capital easily.

The new Coach Captain was John, a senior citizen himself. He was not very effective with his communication. He often murmured with accents and was not very clear about what time we were supposed to meet. People started showing up late and our departure time became a bit unstable. It was not just me, but everyone else started grumbling... I was glad that it was only for a short period of time to be with him.

John took us for a Tiki tour of Wellington. (Tiki tour means a quick tour in Kiwi slang.) The first stop was New Zealand's Parliament building. It was prominent even among the high rise buildings of Wellington Downtown. In its front was the statue of Richard John Seddon who was Prime Minister in the early days of New Zealand. He is well respected.

Next to the Parliament building was the chapel to the Parliament. There was the statue of John Balance.

The next stop was the Museum of New Zealand (Te Papa Tongarewa) Te Papa means "Our Place." It was opened in 1998 when the National Museum and the National Gallery merged. More than 1.5 million people visit this museum every year.

Noteworthy was the display of the remains of a giant Colossal Squid. This squid lives so deep in the ocean that it is rarely seen. But it eats big fish. While people were fishing, one big fish was caught on the fish hook and the squid thought it caught it. So while it was enjoying the fish, the fish hook was slowly pulled up and the squid was caught. An interesting story. Its average length is 45 feet long. 

There was a special exhibition about Gallipoli. Gallipoli is a peninsula in Turkey (formerly Ottoman Empire) Ottoman fought along with Germany during World War I. So the Britain and its allies had to fight against Ottoman as well as Germany. Australian and New Zealand Armed Corps (ANZAC) mobilized 70,000 and 17,000 soldiers respectively and landed in Gallipoli where the Ottoman built a strong fort system. After eight months of battle, ANZAC had to retreat from Gallipoli, but their joint operation give two nations their identify and national dignity. Thus, to date, both nations commemorate ANZAC Day on April 25, the date the troops landed in Gallipoli. The exhibition displayed war heroes in giant size with their stories. 

Wellington has a population of a half million people. It is a harbor city located in a beautiful bay. The view from Mt. Victoria was really panoramic and breathtaking.

John also took us to the top of a hill, top of the cable car. We found Cable Car Museum and the Observatory.

Queen's Wharf is located right at the water front, also part of the city. It is pretty well developed with a lot of cafes and restaurants. I stopped over at Wellington Museum for a peek.

While I was walking around the town, I found a few interesting structures, including the Supreme Court Building.

We had the dinner at a local pub (Lueven's Restaurant) where we ate two pots of green mussels. It was really fulfilling and satisfying to finish them all. Bariga llena, corznon contendo!

After all, our stay in Wellington gave us positive feeling about the city. - Jeffrey