Bob:

We were excited to get to Wellington because we had arranged to meet Michael, the son of our next-door neighbors Mike and Laura, whom we had watched grow up over the years. Crossing our fingers that we could meet him as arranged via emails, we left the Sun Princess around half-past eight. Our ship was docked about a mile outside of downtown Wellington, so we decided to walk into town. Our Insight Pocket Guide to New Zealand had a recommended loop walk that came within a kilometer or so of where our ship was docked, and we thought we'd try to follow the recommended route into town.

First we headed South on Thorndon Quay street past the container-shipping terminal until we arrived at the Railway Station. We turned right to get to the National Library where I had hoped to see the original copy of the Treaty of Waitangi, the original peace treaty between the indigenous Maori and the English settlers. Unfortunately, that display room was being renovated and wasn't scheduled to re-open until 2010. But right across the street we saw the imposing, modernistic structure of the Welllington Cathedral and decided to take a peek inside, and I am really glad that we acted on that impulse.

Monika:

Bob:

The Wellington Cathedral turned out to be the first modern cathedral I have ever visited that felt as awe-inspiring as a typical medieval cathedral. But compared to those medieval versions, this modern version had the additional advantages of being clean, well-lighted, and not having dead bodies lying around to give it that "cemetery" ambiance. The large, open nave also allowed a clear line of sight from any of the seats to the pulpit that was located off to one side.

The stained glass windows were modern in design without being forbiddingly abstract, and I thought that was the best of all possible worlds. One large panel, for example, used a beautiful blue-green glass to depict the ocean and had inset pieces of clearly identifiable ships such as freighters and tankers set into it. That panel made me immediately contemplate the dangers and loneliness of the life of the sailors at sea. I not only thought it was religiously effective, but it also seemed to me to be particularly appropriate for a cathedral in a port city where ships and the sea made up a large part of the daily life of some of the parishioners.

Monika:

Bob:

Just across the street from the Wellington Cathedral we found the government complex. Wellington is the capital of New Zealand and the central government complex is a set of 3 major buildings. We saw bits and pieces of all three of them on a tour lasting from 10:00 to 11:00. Our tour started in the "Beehive", a circular building tapering to a conical top that does, in fact, resemble a bee hive if you squint your eyes a little bit. However, we only saw the main hall section of the first floor of that curious building, which consisted of about a 1/3 slice of the circumference. That large, open area could seat 350 guests for a formal state dinner, I think our guide said.

We spent most of our tour bouncing around the Parliament Building. New Zealand has a unicameral Parliament with just the House of Commons, so to speak. Not having an Upper House, the New Zealand Parliamentary system relies very heavily on the oversight of legislative committees. Each committee evaluates the proposed legislation in a certain area, acting mostly in an fact-finding and evaluative capacity. Discussing each piece of legislation, the committee attempts to achieve a consensus report that is then passed with the legislation to the Parliament for a full vote. If consensus cannot be achieved I gather a minority report is also issued. In very rare cases the committee can even prevent legislation from being brought up in the Parliament, but that requires a 3/4 vote of the committee members to do so, which is clearly a very high standard to kill a proposed bill.

The physical structure of the Parliament was clearly based on the structure of the House of Commons in the British Parliament. The basic U or horseshoe-shaped chamber has the presiding chairman at the end of the U and a "government in power" side to the chairman's right and a "loyal opposition" side to the chairman's left. The furnishings were also the dark wood and paneling that I recall from visiting the British Parliament.

New Zealand has preserved that quaint British custom of having the Prime Minister and his cabinet available for an hour of direct questioning by all members of parliament, which I think is a great idea. In particular, I think that form of direct questioning would help prevent the isolation of the executive branch of government from the legislative branch, which so often seems to happen in U.S. politics.

The oldest building of the three we toured was, without a doubt, the Library of Parliament. The exterior, a vaguely Baroque style facade, was quite colorful and fanciful compared to the more stark and severe modern buildings right beside it. The interior did not disappoint us as it also was a complex, richly decorated set of reading and reference rooms. All too soon our tour was over and we followed Lambton Quay into the Central Business District.

Monika:

Bob:

We found the Information Centre in the Civic Square and had a snack and took pictures of the harbor while we waited to meet Michael. The Civic Square had a variety of interesting sculptures, including a world globe hanging in mid air and carved statues on the bridge over to Frank Kitts Park. The platform in the middle of the bridge gave us good views of the Taranaki Street Wharf across the way and the harbor beyond. In fact we were high enough that we could just glimpse the exhaust stacks of our ship, the Sun Princess, in the far distance.

Michael showed up at 12:15 on the dot and we walked over to a Macs Brewery for a quick lunch of "lamburgers" (tastes just like beef only sweeter!). He filled us in on his experiences living in New Zealand over the previous two years and mentioned such fascinating tidbits as the fact that New Zealand did not have a bank-guarantee system like the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation in the United States. Thus, if any New Zealand bank goes belly up,the depositors are simply going to take it on the chin and lose part or all of their money, which I find incredible in a modern society. The result is that New Zealand banks lend extremely cautiously. Michael and his wife Kim both had good, steady jobs in Wellington but when they investigated getting a loan to purchase a house they ran into the bank requiring a 20% cash down payment plus long-term employment requirements that were impossible to meet, so the net result is that Micheal and Kim were still renting an apartment.

Monika:

Bob:

After finishing our lamburgers (Baaaa!) Michael suggested that we walk up Mount Victoria to get some exercise and enjoy the views from the top. Michael had lived in downtown Wellington long enough to know all the shortcuts over there, of course, but it was still a good mile of a gradual climb over to the mountain and then a rather steep half mile or so zig-zagging up the side of the mountain to the top. We were often breathless and had to pause on the way up, but Michael patiently waited for us old fogies each time.

The view at the top made the entire climb worthwhile, however. We could see out over the entire city of Wellington and the harbor on one side, and in the other direction we could see the city's airport built on a flat section of land at the base of a ridge. In the far distance we could even see the closest part of the South Island of New Zealand across the Cook Straight, but since it was at least 15-20 miles away it was only a small smudge on the hazy horizon.

Monika:

Bob:

Once we recovered our breath Michael led us back down the mountain and across the business district to the entry station for the cable car running up the side of yet another hill. We took the cable car to the top and wandered through the Botanic Gardens, gradually working our way through the maze of paths almost down to street level where we found the Lady Norwood Rose Garden. Although not as extensive as the rose garden we had seen the previous day in Christchurch, it was still very nice.

Monika:

Bob:

By this time we were running out of both time and energy. We decided it was just as easy to walk back to the boat as to try to find the stop for the ship's shuttle bus in the middle of town. So we continued descending down to Featherstone Street, passing an old cemetery with some beautifully-sculpted headstones along the way, and followed the street past the Railway Station to Thorndon Quay and thence back to our ship. Michael was nice enough to walk all the way out there with us--he didn't even seem to be breathing hard despite several hours of walking--so we continued chatting with him until we reached the "secure perimeter" for the commercial port. Beyond that point only the ship's passengers or crew could go, so we bid Michael farewell and continued on to board the ship. Once aboard we retired to our stateroom to rest a while, then had dinner and turned in for the night.

Monika: