Wellington
Wellington is the capital of New Zealand, as well as a fabulous sheltered port. It is in many ways, a microcosm of the entire country. It contains a diversity of people, has a long history with early Maori settlement in the great harbor, and has a stunning landscape. It also is very modern as the political center, and yet quite old. One can look back to the earliest settlers and even as far back to the time of Gondwanaland. Our day of exploring Wellington touched on all of these aspects.
The morning was focused on the city proper, and for seeing a number of these highlights. Parliament, the new Supreme Court building, and the old St. Paul’s Cathedral all gave us hints as to the more modern times here. A stroll through the botanical gardens gave us a mixture of the local and the far away. But what really helped us understand this magical land was Te Papa, the national museum. With things as diverse as Maori canoes, gigantic satellite images of the entire country, interactive earthquake rooms, and Colossal squid, Te Papa helped us complete our image a bit more.
The natural environment certainly has taken a beating since the arrival of the first humans, but all over New Zealand, areas are being returned to what they once were. Nowhere is this better illustrated than Zealandia. By taking a gorgeous valley, fencing it, removing all the nasty introduced pests, and returning many mega-rare species, this project is a glimpse as to Aotearoa maybe 1,000 years ago. Native birds are abundant with a great diversity of very rare birds including Kaka (the forest parrot), Saddleback, Stichbird, Brown Teal, and even Takahe. But even going back further, to a time before dinosaurs, the Tuatara is an incredible species to see. Not like any vertebrate living today, the Tuatara is a so-called living fossil. It, like so many of the species seen today, were or are teetering on the edge of extinction, and to be able to visit a project like this and view these creatures was certainly a treat.
In the evening we set out across Cook Strait, heading towards the South Island. Visiting Wellington and getting such a diverse day was a perfect ending to our time in the North Island. As the sun set over the distant mountains of the South Island, we thought of what amazing new experiences this land would bring.
