The Windy City

(steve)

****Photos are uploaded from the past few weeks that don't have written descriptions yet******



Continuing the city theme, we started our North Island leg in the city of Wellington. Arrival in the city came after a nice four hour jaunt up the east coast of the South Island to catch the ferry. The boat ride went smoothly even though the wind was crazy. Side effect: our car was completely covered with sea water that dried to become a nice layer of salt (consequently, a nice Wellington resident drew some large male genetalia on the back windshield and hilarity ensued).


Wellington is nicknamed the "Windy City" of New Zealand due to the often gale force winds blowing off the ocean. Our arrival was no exception. The next three days were spent walking with our heads down trying to lean forward. Despite the wind, Wellington is a really cool city. We ended up staying in a neat area called Courtney Place that was the center of the theatre district. Since it was close we attended to different small scale productions across the street. They were both definitely low budget and "starving actor" type plays. Given that New Zealand is British influenced we have found curry restaurants in most places, but Wellington had them in spades. Just about every other window. And let's just say that Karen and I really love the stuff!! We also went to the Te Papa museum (National museum), Botanical gardens, and a nice walk in a local forest.



The other side of the "Windy City" is that Wellington is the national capital (loads of hot air generated here). After a brief tour through the Parliament building, we were told that there would be a public session that afternoon. We decided to attend, since how often do you get to see government in action. We sat in the gallery facing the "government" side (where the Prime Minister and her folks sat), and the opposition was just below us. There is no other way to describe the action other than complete soap opera. The debate consisted of both sides trying to speak with the other side heckling and laughing at what they were saying. It was so bad that you couldn't even hear the rest of the statement from the speaker (with a microphone) through all of the extra noise. We left the session wondering how they ever accomplished anything during the day. (To be fair, one of the arguments was over putting in a round-about in an obscure town we had driven through last month, not exactly world-moving legislation.)

Our impression of Wellington was mostly good, with friendly people, good restaurants, and the most culture we've seen so far. There were points against since it was extremely hard to park anywhere (memories of home), and the town was very dog unfriendly. We have voted to make Wellington our favorite city on the North Island.