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 Te Papa Museum Wellington, New Zealand Taken from Tisa's original journal entry: Wellington- (population: 205,500) aka: "Windy Wellington". This is the capital of NZ (previously, the seat of the government was in Auckland) and takes up the entire southern tip of the south island. It is the major travel crossroad between the north and south. The city's harbor was formed by the flooding of a huge valley. In 1460, an earthquake pushed up Miramar Peninsula. The city runs up the hills on one side of the harbor and because it is so cramped for space, many of the workers live in two narrow valleys. One is the Hutt valley where our campsite was located and the other valley follows the highway. No need to ponder the nickname given to Wellington. Back in 1968 the wind blew so hard that it almost blew over the Wellington-Christchurch car ferry onto Barrett's Reef just outside the harbor's entrance. The ship later broke loose from the reef, drifted into the harbor and then sank. The death of 51 individuals took place. Wellington is a wonderful city for many reasons but most importantly, it is known for its culture and arts. We could spend weeks here and not be able to cover the multitude of museums, theaters, vineyards, historic buildings, botanical gardens, etc… The amount of activities that are available in Wellington is fantastic! If you have the sufficient funds and resources, you can go mountain biking, sailing, kayaking, fishing, rollerblading, surfing and windsurfing, rock-climbing, diving, bungy rocketing, take a helicopter ride or even go on an organized tour. One of the most enjoyable things about Wellington was to people watch. There is such a diverse ethnic population here not to mention all the hippies and alternative kids that fill the city. Kevin and I visited the Te Papa museum which was humongous and impressive- to say the least. We stayed at the museum almost the entire day and could only cover one and a half floors (it is six floors and spreads wide!!!). NZ has invested so much into this pride and joy otherwise known as "Our Place", celebrating NZ and its people. The hands-on displays were great and could keep you entertained for some time while the visual pieces were strikingly appealing. If anyone comes to NZ, this is a must-see museum due to the hard work and effort, money ($317m just for the structure of the building) and creative minds that built the best learning center I have ever been to. Very stimulating! Kev and I took the bus around this city and agreed that not only was this the most efficient way to get around, but that it was an enjoyable bus ride coming into the city and back to Hutt Valley where we stayed that night. In this album: Kevin Ludlow, Tisa Peterson, Unknown |
Te Papa Museum
Kevin Ludlow Unknown
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