I’m going to summarize my trip using a chronological list, because… well, I have a lot to say, and that seems like the most efficient way to do it. If you don’t feel like reading a lot you can go ahead and skip down to the pictures. Be warned, though, there a lot of them! (Take my numerous posts about Christchurch and imagine having to squeeze them all into a single post. That’s what this is…)
Friday, 15 October – Day 1: I woke up at the oh-so-agreeable hour of 5:00 am so as to be at the train station by 6:40 (I had to walk – buses don’t start running until ~6:30). The first leg of the trip (from Christchurch to Kaikoura) was reasonably uneventful, except for the group of guys in my carriage who almost got kicked out for drinking the alcohol they brought on board. I mostly read since I’d seen all the scenery before (http://blogs.iesabroad.org/andrew-collins/where-the-mountains-meet-the-sea/). When we got past Kaikoura I went out to the observation car and took some photos. It was a bit grey so I didn’t take very many. It started to clear up as we got into wine country in Marlborough. We passed by Lake Grassmere, which is New Zealand’s largest salt works. It produces most of the country’s salt using the sunlight to precipitate the salt and low barriers to collect it as the water levels change. Unforunately I was back in my carriage because it was really too cold outside, so I didn’t get any pictures. You’ll just have to take my word for it. Eventually (around 12:30 pm) we reached Picton, which is a lovely coastal town nestled comfortably in the hills at the head of Queen Charlotte Sound. The ferry terminal was only a short walk from the train station, but I think I would have been able to find it from anywhere within a 3 km radius, because the ferry was 10 storeys tall. It was a behemoth. The life ”rafts” were the size of large sailboats. It was more or less a cruise ship, but with the cabins removed in favour of car decks. There were two bars, several cafes, viewing lounges, a store, an information centre, two cinemas, and children’s play area on board. I didn’t take advantage of any of these due to my particularly empty wallet. The trip was pretty long and I spent most of it on the cold observation deck taking in the Queen Charlotte Sound and the Cook Strait (between the North and South Islands). Given the weather conditions, everything looked a bit desolate, including Wellington. It really would have been beautiful in the sun, but it was drizzling and foggy and I just wanted to find somewhere with a roof and a bed. So I disembarked and used the $2 I had left after two meals on the train to catch a shuttle into the city centre. There I found a backpacker’s (Nomad Capital), checked in, found an ATM, and, feeling a wee bit drained, went to Subway for dinner.
Saturday, 16 October – Day 2: I woke up significantly more inclined to explore, so that’s exactly what I did. I left my accomodation at about 9:00 am and wandered the streets of Wellington toward the general direction of Parliament. I reached the government campus at about 10:00 and took a tour of the three main buildings: “The Beehive” (offices), Parliament, and the Parliament Library. It was really quite fascinating and the buildings were quite beautiful. I wasn’t allowed to take any pictures inside, which is really sad, because the interiors, especially in the two pre-1900 buildings, were really quite stunning. The most fascinating thing, though, was the earthquake resistance system pioneered by Dr. William Robinson in Wellington (originally for the Parliament House). It involves basically placing the entire structure on short, load-bearing columns of lead, rubber, and steel and then cutting out a 50 cm slab of foundation so that the columns are the only structural elements connecting the building itself and the foundation base. These columns (“base isolators”) can carry tremendous loads and they can move about 30 cm in all directions. What this means is that if an earthquake occurs, while the base is rocking back and forth, the building should be reasonably safe with minimal damage because the base isolators can compensate for movement. Why is this necessary, you might ask? Well, funny thing, really – the city’s built on a fault. That’s right! New Zealand’s capital city is just chillin’ on a big ol’ slip zone! Good planning, right? Anyway, REALLY cool technology and now used all over the world. Anyway, after the tour I went and found some delicious brunch (that also happened to be gluten-free, I found out later) at a farmer’s market across the street. Then I decided to splurge, and I went on a Lord of the Rings filming sites tour, which was pretty darn awesome. I do not have the time or motivation to list all the things I learned here, plus it would spoil the surprise for anyone considering doing the same thing! After the tour I walked into Wellington’s artsy district (Cuba) and got some really good curry at a Malaysian restaurant before returning to the backpacker’s, where a bunch of tenants were watching Master and Commander (one of my favorite movies).
Sunday, 17 October – Day 3: I took the opportunity to sleep in when I looked outside at 7:00 am and saw that it was basically windy as and sidepouring (downpouring sideways?). At 9:00 am I got up again and headed off in search of breakfast, which I found at another farmers market near Te Papa (the national museum – I believe it translates to “The Nation”). It seemed that the only fitting place to go after that was the museum itself, so I headed over and got out of the rain and into New Zealand’s history! It was a spectacularly interesting museum, with exhibits about both society and science. Topics included Maori settlement, European colonisation, modern tensions between the two groups, modern and contemporary New Zealand culture, earthquakes, volcanos, indigenous and introduced wildlife, and much more. My favorite exhibit was probably the one about earthquakes, for obvious reasons, but I also enjoyed the display on the Treaty of Waitangi and resulting tensions, and “Bush City”, which was an outdoor exhibit involving a couple of loops through patches of various types of New Zealand forrest (rainforest, volcanic forest, etc.) and also had a rock garden and cave display. All the flora, soil, and rocks were real, so it was pretty neat. It probably would have been at the top of my list if weren’t for the sidepour. The best part of the day came at around 4:30 when I headed to Westpac Stadium to watch the Hyundai A-Leauge (the A stands for Australia) teams Wellington Phoenix and Melbourne Heart battle it out on the turf. I was a little bit surprised when I learned that 34,500-seat stadium was only host to 5,211 spectators that night. I was even more surprised, though, by the amount of noise those people could make. The fan base was small, yes, but they were dedicated at the level of, if not beyond, the famed European football hooligans. The clouds broke about 20 minutes prior to the starting whistle to a resounding chorus of “Hallelujah” and the noise never stopped. I heard my fair share of entertaining cheers. Those included “Greenacre, my Lord, Greenacre!” to the tune of Cumbaya (after Chris Greenacre scored the first goal in the 6th minute), “All we want is a decent referee, a decent referee, a decent referee” to the tune of the Beatles’ Yellow Submarine, and “Same old Aussies – always cheating” to the tune of bells in a clocktower striking the hour (for those of you who are musically inclined, E C D G [rest] G D E C). Oh, and my personal favorite, “You don’t know what you’re doing!” to no tune in particular. The game ended a 2-2 tie with four good goals. The fans weren’t as happy as the could have been, but the Phoenix were still undefeated. So good on them!
Monday, 18 October – Day 4: Finally a nice day, which worked out very well since my itinerary (made shortly after I woke up) called for a visit to the botanical gardens. The gardens are mostly on a hill, conveniently serviced by cable car. The elevation factor made for some lovely terracing of flower beds and the like, and made my stroll much easier, as I decided to walk from the top back down to the city (as opposed to taking the cable car back down). I got back down to downtown right around lunch time, so I grabbed some food to go at a small cafe next to the cable car station and ate it on the Parliament lawn. When I finished I headed down to the bus interchange, next to the railroad station, and got on an “Airport Flyer” and headed out of town. The bus was quite nice - spacious, fake leather seats and a television displaying constantly updated arrival and departure times as well as news. On the whole, a very comfortable 45 minutes. At the airport I checked in and headed to my gate in an incredibly small amount of time and, before I know it, I was boarding a small Bombardier Q330 (50 seater) from the tarmac at 1:45 pm. After an incredibly loud and bumpy flight we landed in Christchurch at 3 and I, having just missed the city bus, got a cab to take me back to the university. He pulled into the Erskine building parking lot at 3:24 – 6 minutes to spare before lab!
That was my weekend. I loved Wellington almost more than I love Christchurch, and that’s saying something. Whereas Christchurch is much more retail-based, Wellington is more office-based, meaning it’s much taller (more office blocks), and much busier. I never felt unsafe, despite the more city-like feel. The best part was that, even though downtown was rather large, the city itself was tiny in area (though the third largest in population after Auckland and Christchurch) and very easy to get around. It was definitely somewhere I’d spend more time, given the chance.
Anyway, sorry for the length! Here are the pictures!
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