Wellington, New Zealand
Today is Monday, February 5th. We are at sea, and will be for a total of three days as we cross the Tasman on our way from Dunedin, New Zealand to Melbourne, Australia. Since we last blogged, we have visited Wellington, the Christchurch area and Dunedin. I don't know if the Tasman Sea is typically as rough as it was during the night and has been all day today, but I can tell you that we have had quite a ride! This ship, which is pretty big -- check it out by clicking on this link:
https://www.vikingcruises.com/oceans/ships/viking-sun.html
-- has been rockin' and rollin', so much so that several facilities on the ship are closed for safety reasons (such as the gym and certain banks of elevators), the medical center has had lines out the door, people are moving about holding on for dear life, and there are occasional crashes of who-knows-what in the restaurants. In addition to the severe rolling, every so often we experience jolts and thuds as though we have just been in some kind of accident. The captain reports that we are experiencing 17 to 19 foot swells. The troughs are amazing and look very deep! Here are a few photos that will give you some idea of what I'm trying to describe.
Only now, at 6 p.m., do I feel steady enough to attempt to blog about our visit to Wellington, New Zealand's capital. Wellington hasn't always been NZ's capital. The capital was first in Russell and later Auckland, but eventually it was moved to Wellington because of that city's more central location at the southwestern tip of the North Island. Wellington is the second most populous urban region in the country with about 403,000 residents. The geography of the inner city is interesting, with steep hills surrounding the downtown area. A cable car runs from the center of downtown to a high elevation point. I found the city to be far more dense and architecturally less appealing than Auckland, but it nevertheless has a number of worthy attributes.
As always, I like to begin with some photos of our arrival. The first shot is just after first light. Note the moon. The port is just at the edge of downtown and very accessible. For the first time on any of our port stops we had company in the port, here the Seabourn Encore. As you must know by now, I love tug boats and can't resist watching them nudge the ship to its berth whenever we're lucky enough to have dock space (as opposed to having to drop anchor and tender in).
Janis and I took a morning excursion that was styled a highlights tour of the city. Our first stop was at the top of the cable car run.
Next stop was the Wellington Botanic Garden. We could have spent a lot more time there than was allotted.
There are a number of government buildings in the center of the city, including the parliament which locals refer to as the Beehive because of its shape. According to our guide, nobody likes it. Some adjacent government buildings, however, are quite impressive.
The bus tour wound up and around a number of steep streets and neighborhoods, but it was impossible to get any good shots from the bus. We did have a final stop atop Mt. Victoria which provides sweeping panoramic views of the city.
At the end of the excursion we elected to get off the bus near the Museum of New Zealand (in Maori, Te Papa Tongarewa). The museum has an eclectic architecture with sweeping spaces. Featured at the time of our visit there was a curated show on the doomed Battle of Gallipoli which took place in Turkey during World War I and during which New Zealand, fighting on the side of the Allies against Germany and Turkey, suffered enormous losses.
The museum also contains exhibits of Maori art and life.
After leaving Te Papa, we walked along the waterfront and into another wonderful museum named Wellington Museum which features exhibits relating to Wellington's maritime history. Here are some representative photos, beginning with one of a building just across a side street from the museum that is particularly attractive.
Tomorrow I hope to post on our day in the Christchurch area, although we didn't see Christchurch itself because of the excursion choice we made.
I should also note that many of you who are reading our blog have emailed us that you have been unable to post comments on the blog itself and, so, have included your comments in your separate emails. Today I changed a few of the blog settings which I think eliminates the need for any kind of password. We love hearing from all of you, so please don't hesitate to try again.
https://www.vikingcruises.com/oceans/ships/viking-sun.html
-- has been rockin' and rollin', so much so that several facilities on the ship are closed for safety reasons (such as the gym and certain banks of elevators), the medical center has had lines out the door, people are moving about holding on for dear life, and there are occasional crashes of who-knows-what in the restaurants. In addition to the severe rolling, every so often we experience jolts and thuds as though we have just been in some kind of accident. The captain reports that we are experiencing 17 to 19 foot swells. The troughs are amazing and look very deep! Here are a few photos that will give you some idea of what I'm trying to describe.
Only now, at 6 p.m., do I feel steady enough to attempt to blog about our visit to Wellington, New Zealand's capital. Wellington hasn't always been NZ's capital. The capital was first in Russell and later Auckland, but eventually it was moved to Wellington because of that city's more central location at the southwestern tip of the North Island. Wellington is the second most populous urban region in the country with about 403,000 residents. The geography of the inner city is interesting, with steep hills surrounding the downtown area. A cable car runs from the center of downtown to a high elevation point. I found the city to be far more dense and architecturally less appealing than Auckland, but it nevertheless has a number of worthy attributes.
As always, I like to begin with some photos of our arrival. The first shot is just after first light. Note the moon. The port is just at the edge of downtown and very accessible. For the first time on any of our port stops we had company in the port, here the Seabourn Encore. As you must know by now, I love tug boats and can't resist watching them nudge the ship to its berth whenever we're lucky enough to have dock space (as opposed to having to drop anchor and tender in).
Janis and I took a morning excursion that was styled a highlights tour of the city. Our first stop was at the top of the cable car run.
Next stop was the Wellington Botanic Garden. We could have spent a lot more time there than was allotted.
There are a number of government buildings in the center of the city, including the parliament which locals refer to as the Beehive because of its shape. According to our guide, nobody likes it. Some adjacent government buildings, however, are quite impressive.
The bus tour wound up and around a number of steep streets and neighborhoods, but it was impossible to get any good shots from the bus. We did have a final stop atop Mt. Victoria which provides sweeping panoramic views of the city.
At the end of the excursion we elected to get off the bus near the Museum of New Zealand (in Maori, Te Papa Tongarewa). The museum has an eclectic architecture with sweeping spaces. Featured at the time of our visit there was a curated show on the doomed Battle of Gallipoli which took place in Turkey during World War I and during which New Zealand, fighting on the side of the Allies against Germany and Turkey, suffered enormous losses.
The museum also contains exhibits of Maori art and life.
After leaving Te Papa, we walked along the waterfront and into another wonderful museum named Wellington Museum which features exhibits relating to Wellington's maritime history. Here are some representative photos, beginning with one of a building just across a side street from the museum that is particularly attractive.
Tomorrow I hope to post on our day in the Christchurch area, although we didn't see Christchurch itself because of the excursion choice we made.
I should also note that many of you who are reading our blog have emailed us that you have been unable to post comments on the blog itself and, so, have included your comments in your separate emails. Today I changed a few of the blog settings which I think eliminates the need for any kind of password. We love hearing from all of you, so please don't hesitate to try again.
There is a wonderful TV series we have streamed called "ANZAC Girls" about a group of Aussie and Kiwi nurses during the Battle of Gallipoli and other Anzac battles during WWI -- very good series ! Glad you enjoyed NZ, my very favorite place. Sounds like an amazing trip, although I would not have enjoyed the rough crossing.
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