Windy Wellington and the Te Papa

Last Thursday we had an early morning drive to catch the ferry from Picton on the south island to Wellington on the north island. The two hour ferry ride was very scenic as we passed by many coves on our way through the sound to the open ocean and across Cook Strait. The cruise through the sound with its tree-covered shores reminded me of the British Columbia ferry that rides past Salt Spring Island and other islands on the way from Vancouver to Victoria, Vancouver Island. The ferry itself was a miniature version of its B.C. cousin, except the Picton ferry included a semi-trailer filled with cattle, not something found often on B.C. ferries as I recall. I must admit the cattle were a little smelly when the wind was blowing the wrong way.

It was a beautiful cool sunny day, and as the ferry made its way into Wellington harbour, we had a good view of New Zealand's capital. There was a cruise ship in port, and the ship dominated this compact city of 400,000 (including suburbs), with its modest office towers and houses on the steep surrounding hills. I'm surprised there is enough room for this many people downtown and in the suburbs, given how little flat ground exists around the harbour before the high green hills start to take over.

We disembarked our rental car and went straight to the Te Papa, New Zealand's national museum. This museum was so good we came back the next day for more. It's been 100 years since the Gallipoli campaign of World War I, and to commemorate an exhibit has been set up in the museum. This is one of the best war exhibits I've ever seen. It followed the campaign from the allied landings in April 1915 until withdrawal the following January. The New Zealanders suffered disproportionally among the allies with a death-rate of about 25% of the New Zealand troops serving - it was a defining moment in the history of both New Zealand and Australia. The exhibit was very well done and included huge and realistic statues of some of the soldiers and participants, and great models and displays to provide some insight into the campaign. There was also an emphasis on a Maori regiment that served bravely, and sadly suffered heavy casualties alongside their allied compatriots.

The museum had a number of floors dedicated to Maori culture, and good exhibits on earthquakes and indigenous flora and fauna. At the earthquake exhibit, we learned about a fault line that runs straight through New Zealand, and we were able to stand in a house simulator that started to shake to get a sense of an earthquake. The island nation has experienced a number of significant earthquakes over the years, the worst ones in terms of devastation and fatalities being the Christchurch earthquakes in 2010 and 2011, and a North island earthquake in 1931 that wiped out the entire town of Napier.

The flora and fauna exhibits were really superb and showed how invasive species of plants and animals have transformed the country. There was one exhibit I really enjoyed that tried to show how the island might have looked and sounded a thousand years ago, when native trees and ferns dominated the landscape and native birds (like the huge moa and kiwi) covered the place. I found the sounds of the birds interesting with strange exotic squawks and low caws. There were no songbirds singing back then as there are now - all the songbirds I hear all day in New Zealand are imported European species.

There were some tours going on throughout the museum, some given by Maori guides. One Maori guide told a story about how the moas were hunted to extinction by Maori people by the early 1800's. At the time there also existed the largest eagle in the world that hunted the moas. The guide explained that once the moas were extinct, the eagles started including small children among other prey, and could pick a child up by the head and carry the victim off. This led to the quick extinction of the eagles, who were taken down by the Maori to protect their children. He told the story as a cautionary tale that people, including the Maori people, need to adapt to the world around them to prosper. Otherwise you'll end up like the moa and the eagle (figuratively speaking). I don't know how much of his tale was true, but I have to give him credit for superb story telling.

On our second day in Wellington the weather turned for the worse with gusts up to 120 kilometres per hour. I had heard that Wellington was a windy city, especially in the spring, but this was quite the blow. As we walked around the downtown streets, the gusts funnelled in from the harbour and up the streets running from the south to the north. It almost blow us off our feet - I saw Elizabeth laughing while holding onto a pole and I wasn't sure if she was kidding or not.

We also visited the Wellington Museum on the refurbished waterfront, which was well done and quirky. It covered the history of Wellington, and how it has evolved over the last 150 years since it became the capital. A nice thing about capitals is they often pour a lot of money into their national museums, and Wellington is no exception. The two museums we saw here were first class.

The downtown streets were also fun to walk around, although many of the buildings and areas seemed a little run down to me and could use some refurbishment. I think this is an ongoing process, as there were a few cranes downtown working on a number of buildings.

Here are the kids on the way into Wellington harbour.