On our last visit to Wellington, we had tried to get on the
Hop On Hop Off bus but it was all sold out. It was also raining so we trudged
through the downpour and went to the Te Papa museum which was really quite
nice—and dry. This visit we did not want to miss the bus so we got online and
made reservations. To be sure we would be there in time, we made them for 11 AM
but we arrived at the port and were on the dock early enough that we made it to
the information center by 9:30. Bob asked if we could change to the 10 AM bus
but they said it was full.
Nothing like free WiFi though to make up for it. So we sat
and perused email and Facebook. Just as I was finishing up another email, Bob
strolled down to where the bus was loading and spoke with the driver. He
hustled back to tell me that if everyone did not show up by 10 there would be
two seats available. As luck would have it, two people were no-shows and we
were on.
The bus is a small mini-bus that holds 11 people plus the
driver. It’s small because of some of the narrow twisty roads they travel to
get to points of interest. They have a system whereby they note who gets off
and how many they will have to pick up with the next bus (I think there were
only three operating). The system wasn’t working well this day but more about
that later.
Our first stop was at the lookout at Mount Victoria. Just as
advertised you could get a 360 degree view of the city and surrounding area.
Wellington, the capital of New Zealand, is sprawling much like Auckland. The
downtown area is full of skyscrapers and bustling with business (government as
well as commercial) and tourism. The suburbs spread out in all directions
across the land that is quite hilly. According to our driver, “Give a landowner
an inch and he’ll build a house on it.” He was referring to all the homes
sitting precariously on the hillsides. Some even had their own funicular or
cable car to get them from the street to their house. Imagine carrying
groceries in that way.
WETA was our next stop and we told our driver we would stay
the hour so that we could get a glimpse of the free mini-museum and watch the
free movie. What is WETA you ask? It is the maker of props and sets for a score
of movies including Lord Of The Rings and the Hobbit series. Outside were
mockups of the giant trolls and inside, the mini-museum turned out to be a
museum of miniatures from the movies. I assume some were used in the mini sets
movie makers use when they shoot some scenes such as a train crash.
The movie was very interesting and showed how two people who
loved art and the movies had begun a studio to sculpt and make puppets for
movies. It expanded and turned into quite a business and now is a very popular
place with many of Hollywood’s movie makers including James Cameron (***) and
Peter Jackson (who is actually a Kiwi). The business expanded into the digital
area and now has several divisions that include all sorts of special effects
and prop and puppet making.
Next stop for us, the top of the cable car hill. The cable
car or more correctly the funicular is an icon in Wellington. It is the must
see and must do of any visit. The last time we were here it was pouring rain
and we ran into the little café there and had lunch. I remembered their chicken,
cheese and cranberry sandwiches. (I know, more food stories.) We told our
driver that we would stay here for an hour and he noted that with the
dispatcher.
The other thing besides the better weather that was
different was that the scaffolding was all gone. The new cable car stop was all
glass enclosed and very modern looking. It is nice to be able to go inside and
watch through the glass as the car comes up or goes down. We didn’t think we
had time to ride up and down so we just went into the café. There was my
sandwich and just as good as I remembered.
There being some time left in our hour, we strolled into the
gardens that are there and took a look at the observatory. There are actually
two there but we wondered just how good they were any more. The city lights had
certainly gotten brighter since they were built. Bob tried his hand at telling
time with the human sun dial. We would have been late if the sun hadn’t finally
come out from behind the clouds.
We met the bus on its scheduled stop but found it full. No
problem, there was a second one right behind and we could get on that. We did,
only to be told after the driver called in that there wouldn’t be space because
he had to pick up someone else. As we waited for the driver to coordinate our
pickup, I suddenly noticed what looked like a scorpion crawling up my pant leg.
I screamed and knocked it down and then found that everyone was enamored with
the critter. Turns out it was a weta, a grasshopper relative that doesn’t hop
any more. Thankfully this was a female and didn’t have pinchers. In all our
visits to New Zealand this was one critter we’d missed. I don’t need to see one
again—especially on my leg.
All told there were six of us that stood waiting another
whole hour for a bus. Something or rather someone wasn’t keeping records right,
or so we were told. “The new guy is gonna have to get it together.” We weren’t
terribly upset. We had all day and in the extra hour had made friends with a
lady, her husband and two brothers from New Mexico and Colorado. They were
cattle ranchers and had traveled extensively. We swapped funny stories about
driving experiences in other countries and other travel moments to remember and
what was happening back home—our new furnace and her new calves. Before long
the hour was up and an empty bus came for us.
A short stop at an old wooden cathedral that was unique and
beautiful inside and then an option to get off at the waterfront which we took.
It was a beautiful afternoon. Sun shining, the kind that makes you just want to
sit watch the water and the activities associated with it. Very relaxing.
We found our way back to the ship’s shuttle and rode back to
our home-away-from-home. The one where someone makes your bed every day, cleans
your bathroom, puts out fresh towels, and offers food and drink all hours of
the day. It’s a tough life.
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