Wellington & To The South Island

Cathy taking picture of Jan taking picture of the Interisalnder ferry in Wellington Harbour – This ferry sails between Wellington on the North Island and Picton on the South Island

Yesterday we rode the bus into Wellington on another beautiful day and started with a tour of the Parliament buildings. On this excellent tour, we learned how the New Zealand government works, viewed 3 buildings (Executive Wing, Parliament, & the Parliament Library), and how the foundations of the buildings have been modified for earthquake protection [The Parliament buildings sit only 400 meters from a major fault line]. After this tour we walked to the Wellington Cable car for a ride up a steep hill and visited the Cable Car museum. We then enjoyed a casual walk down the hill thru the beautiful and refreshing Botanical Gardens. Upon reaching the bottom and seeing how far it was to the next place, we took a taxi to the Museum of New Zealand, Te Papa Tongarewa. In this exciting and unique museum we explored the nature, art, history and heritage of this great country. But, after 3 hours there, we ran out of energy and took the bus (and our memories of a great day in the city) back to the campervan.

Today we drove into the city for a great panoramic view of the city from the top of Mt. Victoria before going to the ferry terminal. It was time for us to say goodbye to the North Island for the time being and sail to South Island. We plan to be on the South Island for 4 weeks and then return to the North Island for 1 more week before flying to Australia. Thru a lot of planning, we had checked out where lighthouses were along the ferry route and had a bonanza lighthouse day in photographing 7 of them plus 2 others that may be lighthouses (we will have to research this). The ride to the South Island thru Cook Strait was very smooth and we ended up passing by many beautiful islands as we neared Picton.

The Beehive - The Executive Wing of the Parliament Buildings

Rock Pigeon on the Parliament grounds

Wellington cable car – This funicular railway runs from the commercial heart of the city, tunnels under the corporate towers of The Terrace, and emerges in Kelburn for a view overlooking the central city

Pencarrow lighthouses (The old one sits on top of the hill and the new one is at the bottom). These are also known as the Upstairs Downstairs lighthouses