In Wellington we decided it was best to get a local guide to tour us around. He took us up to this viewpoint called Mount Victoria Lookout where you could see the whole bay area. Wellington became the Capital of New Zealand in 1865, replacing Auckland.It was bit of a stormy cloudy day, so it made for some pretty awesome pictures with the sun poking through!A bit of a close up view of the waterfront area.A little history of how Wellington got its name.This is Arthur Wellesley, the first Duke of Wellington.The entrance to the harbor with the original lighthouse up top and the newer one down below.Another ferry like the one we came here on. It was more of a cruise ship!As you would expect, they love their soccer (football) team!The government went to great lengths to make this Miramar Peninsula predator free, so the indigenous species could thrive.Our guide took us to see the Weta, which is a museum of the characters and such of the Hobbit movies. The name Weta in New Zealand refers to two main concepts: a group of giant, ancient endemic insects and the world famous creative and special effects film studios named after them.Like this cute guy!This is an assortment of their swords and other weapons.Joni and her little friend!Jan and Lane fending for their lives!Just hanging out with my new friend!Just in case you think all this is real and you need it!Up the street a bit is Stone studios where the magic happens!Now back to reality, here’s a nice bay view.There was a lot of really different modern architecture.As like everywhere here, the old mixed in with the new!A little shop humor!We’re boarding the famous Wellington Cable Car that will take us up to a viewpoint overlooking the city.On our way. You can see here it’s a pretty steep climb.As you can see, it’s a pretty great view from up there!The trees and foliage here are pretty tropical!Another view of a cable car descending. The locals use this to commute to and from work.This is the new Parliament buildingAnd this is the old one. We all decided, as have many of the locals, that this one is much nicer and “Parliament like”!And a frog with his own sliding board!I wonder if this is the Mayor of Wellington?We went to the Museum of New ZealandThe next six pictures are Boulders and their descriptions representing the Maori people and their heritage..Maori sayings in their language and the English translationThese hand carved boats were amazing! Such beautiful workmanship!Such intricate details!That’s a lot of manpower!Predecessor to our modern day catamaran and/or party boat?Various oars, also hand carved.Here are some examples of their various lashings used in the construction of their boats.More of the beautiful carvings, very imaginative!This is a Maori Meeting house and is sacred, so no one was allowed inside. I’m not even sure I was supposed to take outside pictures!More exquisite carvings!Great taxidermy on this Albatross! They’re huge!A photo of the Maori tribe from 1887.A bull made from corned beef cans.A Britten 1000 motorcycle made by Britten Motorcycles in New Zealand 1992.The bottom of the world globe shows just how close New Zealand is to Antartica!
We've been full time RVers since 2015 and have been fortunate enough to have seen all 50 states (we flew to Hawaii and alaska) and stayed in each at least one week! It's been an awesome adventure but we've decided to park our fifth wheel in Yuma Arizona, mostly because its warm year round!
By staying put in one place we can now do other travel both in the USA and abroad.
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