Wellington,NZ

February 3, 2013 - We cruised all night and morning to get to Wellington, the capital of NZ.  Wellington is compared to San Francisco - hills, cable cars and narrow streets with Victorian homes. We spent the morning working out, light breakfast, a little hot tub time and setting on the deck enjoying the sun and beautiful landscape as we entered the harbour.  

Had the place to ourselves.

Pretty red tug boats coming to get us.

WestPac stadium - where many of their sporting events take place was right there by our ship.

Some sort of pine lumber is one of their major exports.

Advertising a bar - the bird is about 25 feet up on the building and is holding 2 cups on his beak.

Government buildings - these 3 buildings are all right beside each other and connected and could not be more different in design.  The one on the left is called the beehive.

This one is on the far right.

Marty and Cynthia enjoying the roses.

The first St. Paul catherdal.  It became too small so a large one was built several blocks away.  A lovely wooden church.

Note the all wood interior.  This is a 48 star US flag and a US Marine flag.  During WW II, NZ was the last safe spot many American soldiers had before heading off to war.  They got their good bed, warm meals and friendship and the New Zealanders welcomed them with open arms.

This building is made of all wood, but is made to look like stone - you have to touch it to know the difference.

Restored birthplace of Katherine Mansfield - she was a short story author in the late 1800's until her death in Paris from TB at the age of 34.  

Our tour guide at the birthplace - she was a character.

Te Papa Tongareua - a national museum that contains over 317 million cultural and architectural masterpieces.  No - Jim and Dale did not have time to read about all of them.   The museum is home to one of the finest Maori exhibits in the country.

The city is lovely, but small for a capital city.  We could walk everywhere and it was a beautiful day.  When finished with the museum we decided to walk back to the ship instead of taking the tour bus.  We walked along the bay shore and could not believe our eyes when we saw children climbing these stairs and then jumping into the sea.  Don't think this would fly in the US.  As we were walking back, Marty saw a woman using her tablet, so we all got on line for a few minutes.  By the time we got back to the ship our main dining was over so we went to the buffet.  They had huge shrimp (prawns), sushi, and lots of wonderful food.  We decided it was "combat buffet" - (kind of like combat fishing, Paul) with our fellow passengers from the eastern side of the world.  We foud a quiet spot and then played a few hands of hearts before calling it a day.