Another beautiful sunny day in Wellington – we were told it has been the hottest February day for over twenty years and what is even more amazing is that there was hardly any wind until about 4.30pm when a very welcome cooling sea breeze arrived.
We spent the morning at Te Papa, The Museum of New Zealand – a huge purpose built six-storey building (if you include the roof terrace sculpture park) that celebrates everything NZ. It is full of state-of-the-art technology with bright exhibits in dim galleries. The technology is adult-friendly so there is a huge amount to keep everyone occupied. The exhibits start with the creation of Zealandia and it’s possible to experience a volcanic eruption on screen and an earthquake aftershock while standing in a house. There are sections on dinosaurs and the evolution of plants and birds unique to NZ and skeletons of sea-mammals as well as the preserved body of a colossal squid caught by a fishing trawler off the coast a few years ago – if it had been served in a restaurant the calamari rings “would have been the size of truck tyres”. The galleries then move on to the arrival of man, first the Maori people and their art and culture and then the arrival of Europeans and our imposed culture. The exhibitions finish on the fifth and sixth floor with art and sculpture from mostly NZ artists, although once again some nice pots from Shoji Hamada and Bernard Leach.
Once outside the gallery we spent a long time watching the Dragon Boat racing (another annual event), as well as Dragon and Lion dances. The thrilling final of the boat race was won, hardly surprisingly, by the NZ Army Dragon Boat Team.
We had lunch in a waterside brew pub and, optimistically, tried some different beers – it was all ice-cold, fizzy, metallic-tasting, gnats-pee and quite expensive, we shall stick with wine. The most exciting part was when a large sting ray glided past in the shallow waters below the dock.
Another dinner by the waterside and farewell to Wellington, tomorrow (Sunday) we sail to the South Island, Tsunami warning permitting.
No comments:
Post a Comment