The drive from Taupo to Wellington is a long stretch of countryside and eventually seaside. There’s not a whole lot along the drive, but it is quite nice scenery. Wellington one of the larger cities in New Zealand at about 350,000, which means that it is still a pretty small town. Apparently, they have one of the highest ratio of restaurants to residents, but it took us a while to finally find the street where they all were, which is Cuba Street. It is also one of the windiest cities in the world, but thankfully it was pretty manageable when we were there. Even though it is quite populated by New Zealand standards, it seemed like another quaint city that sits on a huge bay.
On the way to Wellington we did stop by the National Trout Centre. Trout were introduced to New Zealand and as a species they do quite well in this environment. Pictured above is a tank where trout are grown and there is a special design to it that allows water to flow at a rate that is comfortable to the trout. We learned that the trout can see you and that they are scared of you, and will swim away from wherever you are standing. There was also a children’s pond where there was a group of young school children learning to fish. We saw a little girl smash a trout after it was caught to make sure it was dead; quite grizzly.
We passed through a small town called Bulls. Nothing much there, but they turn everything that ends in -ble to –bull, eg. Bloom-a-Bulls.
This is the view back towards the CBD of Wellington from the top of Mount Victoria. From there you get 360 degree views of the city, the bay, and out towards the ocean. The wind was pretty stiff, but it can get much, much worse according to the information placard.
This building that looks like part of a slide projector is named the Beehive and actually houses various government offices.
To right of the Beehive are the Old Parliament House, built in 1922, and the Parliamentary Library.
A little further on our walk we passed through the train station and checked out the statue of Gandhi in front. San Francisco also has a Gandhi statue, it’s behind the Ferry Terminal in case you are on a quest to see Ghandi statues.
The next day, before having to get on the Ferry to the South Island, we stopped by the Botanic Gardens. This is the Lady Norwood Rose Garden, filled with blooming roses and lots of tourists. The following are a few highlights from the very beautiful conservatory adjacent to the rose garden.
After passing through several different lush sections, including a herb garden, desert garden, and a tree house (more of a building amongst tree tops) we made our way to the hill top section which includes the Carter Observatory. Here is Megan lending a hand to the sundial.
There is also a Cable Car, originally built in 1902, which you can take to the top of the hill if you are too lazy to make the hike up.
In the middle of downtown, is the Old St. Paul’s Cathedral, an 1866 Gothic-style church. We stopped by the day before, but it was closed, and we had just enough time to spare before having to head to the ferry. The wooden interior is a really unique and interesting looking. An older gentleman who was working there was very nice and gave us some good info about the church and the city. It would have been really nice to chat longer and learn more, but we were double parked and had the ferry to catch.
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