Our last port in New Zealand was a big one….Wellington, the capital of the country, and a cool one at that. This city is commonly known as the windiest city in the world, and it is said that the erratic weather adds zest. That would definitely apply today, as we entered the Wellington Harbour under very overcast and cloudy skies and then docked close to 7am. This happens to be a working port with no cruise terminal building, so it was mandatory to take a shuttle bus to town. There would be no walking off of the ship in the dock area.
We watched the guests going off on tours, and realized there were three shuttle buses as well. We stayed onboard until 10:30am, working on yesterday's reports and pics. We are determined not to let the day go by without completing what we did and saw. When we went down the rather steep gangway, local info people were there handing out city maps. This is such a big help for those of us on walking treks. The two bus stops were well-marked, and we did sort of recall where they dropped us off at Lambton Quay and Brandon Street.
Our plan began with finding the Cable Car Lane where the famous cars went up the mountain. There was a short line to purchase the tickets, which were $6 NZ each. The ride was quick, even with four stops along the way. The first was Clifton Terrace, then Talavera, and Salamanca University, and Kelburn at the top, which was the end of the ride. There is restaurant there, restrooms, and a Cable Car Museum. By accident, one of us picked up some Cable Car brochures, but soon discovered they were in Spanish and German. Duh…. From what we could figure, the funicular was inaugurated in 1902 and carried over 4,000 people at one point.
One of the main reasons for the ride up here was to stroll through Wellington Botanic Garden, a protected forest with a deliberately-planted garden to test what would do well in this part of the world. Many of the various species of trees and plants were imported from Europe and even from California. One of the successful trees to grow happened to be the Monterey pine from California. Some of these trees are towering and quite old. Due to drought and the pine borer, many of the California trees are dying. We know first hand since many of our 40 year old trees have died or fallen with the excess rain recently. Nowadays, the pines are grown for their lumber and have become a major industry.
Anyway, this park is tiered off of the hillsides with steep trails lined with many trees, shrubs, and ground cover plants. It is built on 25 hectares and has many of the same flora that we have back home. The largest and oldest has to be the kauri, eucalyptus, and pines. We even saw one bunya-bunya tree that was smaller than the one we have planted in our garden. Last summer, that tree produced 135 cones weighing over 5 pounds each. We made it a point not to sit under that tree. Other plantings were used for construction, food, fiber, and medicine by the local Maori people. We covered every trail taking photos along the way. We have to admit the steepness of the walkways messed with our knees. We sure don't remember those trails being so steep in parts.
We located the Treehouse Visitor Center along with the botanic garden shop. We did not have the time to go inside, but did walk around the surrounding veranda. The Discovery House is close to the treehouse. It is designed to teach the younger crowd the importance of plants and how to take care of them. Continuing downhill, we came upon a display garden with bedding plants. Surrounding these plants were clumps of curley parsley, which looked good enough to eat. As a matter of fact, there was a man there picking some of the stems and stashing them in his bag. We assume he was a local who was collecting fresh herbs. We know from experience that the more you pick parsley, the better it grows.
From here we had to go back up the trail to reach the rose and herb garden. Up and over the hill, we made our way down the zigzag trail to Lady Norwood Rose Garden. This garden opened in 1953 and designed in a British way with formal rose beds and 300 varieties of roses. We don't think they were in the peak of their bloom period, but they were still pretty.
The Begonia House is located in the rose garden area. Two buildings contain tropical and temperate displays with numerous begonias, anthuriums, palms, bananas, and every tropical blooming plant we know. There are two ponds with water lilies as well. They add to the humidity in these hothouses. Between the rose garden and the begonia house, we must have captured hundreds of pictures. Even on such a dreary day, close-up shots of the flowers should come out just fine. Attached to one side of the Begonia House is a Picnic Café, offering excellent food and coffee. Greg and Heo had also come to this garden and had lunch there today. Lamb pies are what they ordered and said they were as good as they can get at home in Sydney.
The Bolton Street Cemetery was the next stop on our way downhill. This cemetery served the Church of England and the Jewish community. All others were buried in the public cemetery. A new urban motorway had to be built through the middle of this old cemetery, so in 1968, 3700 coffins were exhumed and moved to a large vault beneath the Early Settlers Memorial Lawn. It took worker three years to complete the move.
At the bottom of the hill, we crossed over a bridge that connected the cemetery to the town streets. Crossing a few streets, we found ourselves at the famous Beehive and Parliament Buildings – all government owned. One off us relaxed on the benches of the Beehive, while the other went up to photograph the Sacred Heart Cathedral. Directly across the street from here was the Victoria University of Wellington, a stately old colonial building. Following Lambton Quay, we passed by The Supreme Court and many other downtown businesses. Within a few minutes, we found the entrance to the Cable Car and figured we had gone full circle. Using our map, we found the street that led us past the Intercontinental Hotel and the shoreline at Waterloo Quay. We knew we were close to the restaurants along this harbor, and found Portofino, where we have eaten lunch on past trips. They were still serving lunch at 2pm. And it was good timing because it had begun to sprinkle and we did not have umbrellas with us. Lucky for us, it stopped.
We found a table for two at a window, and ordered two Stella draft beers. Then we shared a Hawaiian pizza with ham and "rocket" – salad greens on the top. All was delicious although a bit pricey. But it was like eating at Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco where the food is higher than everywhere else. Just part of the territory.
The walk to the bus stop was short, but we still had some New Zealand money to spend. A Countdown market was right next to the Cable Car Lane, so we went inside and bought some room snacks. Part of our purchases included some packages of Tim Tams, which we love. The bus was waiting on the corner, and we were off for the ride back to the ship. It was around 3:30pm by now, and most of the riders were crew members who had gotten some time off. They love to go shopping for clothes and snacks. This downtown area had all of the popular stores for clothes and shoes. At stop # 2, the driver picked up more crew members and filled the bus.
All aboard was 6:30pm, so we had time to spare. We knew the rain was coming again, and did not want to get drowned. The winds had picked up significantly by now and it was getting chilly. Glad to be back on the ship, we hung out working on the computer and taking notes on where we went and what we saw. It was another marathon day.
We watched from our veranda as the gangways were removed. That's when the drizzle began, which eventually turned into driving rain. The Zuiderdam left the pier by 7pm and headed out into the Cook Straits. Captain Friso warned that the sailing would get rough with some deep swells and very high winds. He was so right. By dinnertime, we looked out the windows of the dining room to see whitecaps and driving rain. At one point the ship began to list and was not correcting. That's when Captain Friso came on the speakers and warned us about what was happening advising us to be careful when walking. He even had to slow down to wait out the winds in hopes our sailing would improve. These are dangerous waters in between the North and South Islands and it takes skill to get us through it safely. We may have a rocky ride this evening and into tomorrow as well.
It was Barb's birthday today, so we toasted her to another year and wished her many more. After dinner, the waiters came to sing the birthday song, and present her with the cute little cake everyone gets. Since we had already eaten our desserts, she donated the cake back to our waiters Nik and Gofar. That made them quite happy.
We now have three sea days to rest up for another fabulous city…..Sydney, Australia.
Bill & Mary Ann
