Susan's Travel Sagas

Overcast and cool this A.M. Had a bowl of muesli and cup of tea in the little kitchen here (wasan’t going to deal with the little packages of instant coffee.) Visited the botanical gardens, drove to what looked like the entrance on my map which was at the top of the Wellington cable car. There were no available brochures to carry with me, but I thought I could walk down and take the cable car back up. Turns out when I got to the bottom I found some brochures at that entrance and I was nowhere near the lower stop for the cable car, so I had to (again) walk back up a big mountain. The botanical gardens were large with meandering paths, an area with some large sculptures, and small gardens - herbs, camellias, begonias, etc. At the very bottom was a large formal rose garden that I never quite got to because it would have meant climbing down part or the mountain I had just climbed back up and I didn’t want to do that.

Once back to the car I drove into the city, parked, and walked up Cuba Street to Te Papa, the national museum. Saw the town hall and the conference center. the museum was impressive, with exhibits about so many aspects of NZ life, the Maoris, the immigrants, the animals, the plants, the land. The largest squid in captivity is preserved and on display with a movie explaining how it was caught by accident in Antarctica. Another short film was about a man who enjoyed getting out in the very remote country; it showed him free falling off an incredibly high cliff, with a parachute that you couldn’t see deployed at just the last moment.

I attended a free concert performed by the NZ String Quartet with compositions by contemporary NZ composers. Two of the composers were present and spoke briefly about their pieces. It was a pleasant interlude and change of pace and so nice to enjoy a part of kiwi culture without climbing a mountain or even being on my feet.

After leaving the museum, explored the shopping areas of Wellington on foot, then drove to view the government buildings including the Beehive. An older local woman standing on the sidewalk while I was taking pictures offered some commentary. She told me the Parliament was only half built which appears to be true and instead of finishing the other half of the building, the “Beehive” was built. When Queen Elizabeth came to commemorate the opening, she commented that she hoped there would not be too many drones in the building.

 I then took a drive to Mt. Victoria to get a panoramic view of the city and nearly got blown away. I think it would have been much more enjoyable and impressive were the sun out. Then back down the mountain to find a place to park for dinner at Logan Brown, one of NZ’s best restaurants. As I was eating early I had the option of the full a la carte menu or the prix fixe bistro menu (chose the latter) with half glass wine tasting. Dinner was very nice with an entrée of cold salmon with potato, a “mains” of turkey confit with cranberry and pumpkin puree (the closest I will get to Thanksgiving) and a fresh green dinner salad, then a raisin pie, followed by a decaf cappucino.

Now I am catching up on e-mail on this unsecured network I found.