Our guest blogger for Wellington is Anne Bader
Arrived Friday, February 28, 2014; left Sunday, March 2
Hotel - Intercontinental Wellington;
nicely located near the harbor, the downtown area, and close to the important
Te Papa museum, theatres, etc.
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| Te Papa Museum |
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| Wellington Harbor |
Some activities:
Went to Te Papa Museum of New Zealand, but
couldn't make heads or tails of it. Probably due to our lack of knowledge
of Maori history, but also the museum seemed a hodge podge - very peculiarly
organized.
Saw a play: Pasefika, part of the NZ Festival of the Arts at the Circa Theatre. http://festival.co.nz/pasefika/ NZ is very proudly multicultural and
since the 1980s especially, it seems to take pains to emphasize its combined
European and Polynesian heritage. This play, Pasefika, concerned the effects of
Maori culture on a minor French painter, Charles Meryon, who had lived in
Akaroa, a French whaling community in southern NZ, and then returned to Paris,
where his paintings began to include Maori elements.
As a new play, and one
that dealt with unfamiliar cultures, expectations for a great show were not
high, but it was actually a very nice experience, and one that took on
more meaning over the next few days as we learned more and more about NZ history.
For example, the Maori costumes and props were representative
of items we saw afterwards in museums. The humor in the dialog we experienced
again at Maori culture shows. The star of the show was George Henare, very
famous in NZ ; he played the role of social worker in the movie, "Once
Were Warriors," a powerful look at contemporary Maori life in urban NZ --
definitely worth watching if you're interested in Maori culture. I plan to
watch it again when we get home.
Went to Wellington botanic gardens --
great!
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| From the top of the cable car |
Took a cable car from the base near our
hotel to the top,
These beautiful gardens are arranged so
that you can stroll thru them and walk downhill all the way back to town.
Halfway through we stopped for lunch at a cafe that adjoins the rose gardens,
providing a view of flowers, fountains, ducks, and all sorts of people. Good
food, too, a frequent theme on this trip.
New Zealand parliament buildings:
We tried for a guided tour of the
Parliament buildings, since Wellington is the Washington d.c. Of New Zealand,
but there wasn't room for the six of us, so we nosed around the public area and
gift shop, and watched a brief video about NZ government, then we took
ourselves across the street to The Backbencher, famous for huge puppets
depicting nz political figures. It's good place
for tasty NZ beer and a laugh.
See Www.backbencher.co.nz for a look at the puppets. it's
hard to imagine a bar like this within spitting distance of the US Capitol
building.
Good restaurant: Floriditas. Located on trendy Cuba Street, this
restaurant provided a great lunch in an atmosphere the reminded me very much of
a place that Ben and Abby would like. Mark got smoked mackerel hash as Jack wouldn't order anything with a fried egg on it!
