NZ-Australia, Feb. 17, 2024

Viking Description: Wellington, the capital of New Zealand, enjoys a splendid setting and is hailed by many as the “coolest little capital in the world.” Its history is embodied in a rich collection of architecture, from classic weatherboard wooden cottages and the clean lines of art deco to Edwardian and postmodern wonders. The city’s neoclassical Parliament House stands out and is listed as a Heritage New Zealand building for its history and cultural significance. The city hosts an array of arts and cultural institutions, including museums, symphonies, ballet and film.

Port Arrival: 9:00am; Port Depart: 5:30pm

We awoke to the ship pulling into Wellington Harbor. We grabbed breakfast in the World Cafe and made it down to the theater for our 9:15am check in. We found a long line and waited quite a while to get to the head of the line for assignment to a tour group. They nearly made us stay for an extra half hour until Barb complained and got us the last seats on our 9:30 bus.

  • Te Papa & Highlights of Wellington
    • Duration: 3 hours, 9:30 AM      
    • Visit the Museum of New Zealand and Explore Contemporary Displays
    • Take in the sights of New Zealand’s capital during a panoramic drive and visit the Te Papa Museum. Meet your guide and set off by motor coach, passing the 19th-century Parliament buildings. During your ride, your guide will explain the history of the buildings and the city’s culture. Arrive at the waterfront Te Papa Museum and step inside to explore a celebration of New Zealand’s diverse landscape, cultures and nature. After an introduction, you will enjoy time to explore the museum at your leisure. Impressive exhibits highlight the natural world and geology of New Zealand’s islands, as well as the Māori culture and traditions. View interactive displays that educate, inspire and showcase the unique aspects of New Zealand and its history through storytelling and the latest technology. After your visit, return to your awaiting ship.

The bus drove us pretty directly to the Te Papa Museum which was busy with lots of regular New Zealand families enjoying their Saturday outings. We met a nice museum guide from Pittsburgh who gave us some usefully honest background on the relationships between Maoris and European New Zealanders, called pakehas (there are some strains as we suspected). Barb and I split up to explore the museum for a few hours. I enjoyed the wildlife section, a special Gallipoli exhibit dramatically designed by Weta Workshop (a real life manifestation of how Gallipoli plays an outsize role in New Zealand’s self image), a volcanoes exhibit (with a shaking room!), a large section on the Waitangi Treaty (no wonder there are still lots of disputes — the translation was done the night before by someone who barely spoke Maori…that, and the concepts of land ownership were completely alien), and the Passport section about waves of immigrants to New Zealand (I liked the graph charting migration over time). The museum helped fill gaps in our understanding of New Zealand’s history.  

There was also a rooftop overlook where I went to snap a photo of downtown Wellington.

We got back on our bus at the appointed time of 12:15pm, rode by the shuttle stop near the Beehive Parliament building, then rode the cable car (very similar to the Hong Kong Peak Tram) up the hill for what was supposed to be a commanding view of the harbor.

The view barely qualified as commanding but it was fun to see a group playing cricket along the way. We walked around for a bit, decided against going to the Botanical Gardens and caught the tram back down. I liked a set of graphics describing “the unsettling process of settlement”.

We walked a short way to the Wellington Museum and spent an hour or so rummaging through their hodgepodge of exhibits all vaguely related to the city of Wellington.  The price was right (free!).

We walked the waterfront a few blocks to get back to our shuttle by the Parliament building (the Beehive) and the former Government Building all made of wood, detouring slightly to try out a McDip at McDonalds for Barb (and french fries for me). We were back on the ship by 4pm, in time for Barb to get to tea once again.

I attended the port talk on tomorrow’s destination, Christchurch, and a separate discussion session about what the Commonwealth has done for New Zealand. This was a fairly interesting small group Q&A that touched on a variety of vaguely contentious historical and contemporary issues such as Maori integration in New Zealand society (it depends who you ask), New Zealand’s role and benefits (few) from the Commonwealth, why hasn’t New Zealand (or Australia) become a republic (probably someday but no current rush), and more.

We had dinner at the World Cafe buffet. I had a few sushi rolls and a sampling of Spanish black pork (?)  and lamb shank (surprisingly tasty). Then a quiet evening catching up on notes and watching the goofy show of movie songs live from downstairs.

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