In Wellington

We woke up to rain and decided to have a slow start to the day but it was not to be. While we sat in bed drinking our morning tea, the hotel fire alarm went off and we had to dress quickly and find the fire exit. Fortunately the alarm then stopped and we were quickly back in our room.

I walked and Clodagh took a bus to the Parliament Buildings where we had an excellent tour first around the modern executive building, designed by the English architect, Basil Spence, and known as the 'Beehive'. Although starkly modern against its neighbours, the same marble had been used as for the more traditional legislature building, which we next visited.

It was 1865 when Parliament moved from Auckland to Wellington but the old Assembly Building was destroyed by fire.

 

The present building has been used since 1918. In the 1990s it was restored and modernised including the installation of novel technology to protect it from earthquakes. We toured the Debating Chamber, the beautifully appointed Maori Affairs Committee Room, the 3 storied height Galleria and the chamber once used for the Upper House. We were told that, in some controversy, it had been abolished, as in practice it merely agreed with everything the government of the day proposed.

The third linked building is the Parliamentary Library used predominantly by members but the public can request access.

 

Then to the nearby Romanesque-style Wellington Cathedral of St Paul. The building programme was spread over several decades and was only completed in 1998.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On to the very different previous cathedral, now known as Old St Paul's. Constructed entirely of wood, even including the nails, in the 1860s, it was 'retired' in the 1960s after almost 100 year's service and its functions transferred to the new St Paul's. There was then a great heritage battle when the Anglican Church proposed demolishing it. This was resolved by the Government agreeing to buy it in 1970 and it is now used as a venue for weddings, funerals, christenings and any spiritual event. We were told it was now a BYO church - bring your own vicar. Or rabbi, or Imam?

Clodagh bussed back to the hotel and I walked along Lambton Quay past the Government Buildings. Although one of the largest wooden buildings in the world, it was built, in the colonial period, to resemble an Italian stone palace in an attempt to convey strength and stability in the expanding British Empire.

I went on to the City Art Gallery and viewed the modern art and sculptures, which were not much to my taste. Back at the hotel I read about it having been moved 120m from across the road. When the building of Te Papa was proposed on its old site, the hotel owners were offered compensation or the move. The photo shows it from Te Papa and it is not clear why they opted for the move - it is not an iconic building.

We dined at another of Simon's recommendations, Dragon Fly, and excellent it was too. Not so excellent was being dragged out again by another fire alarm and having to wait around outside while 3 fire engines arrived and eventually cleared us to go back to bed.

 

Robert Cole

By ferry to Wellington

I made my early morning walk along the front and saw the ferry terminal across Picton's bay.

 

 

From where we later took the Interislander Ferry boat 'Aratere'.

 

 

 

 

Past The Snout and Waikawa Bay.

 

 

 

 

 

Through Queen Charlotte Sound and later Tory Channel (I wonder why so named?).

 

 

 

And arrived early afternoon at Wellington, which by then was living up to its name of Windy Wellington and was covered in low cloud.

 

 

Lyall dropped us at our hotel and he went off to stay with friends in Wellington.

It was good to have 3 days in a row at one place and to be able to unpack our cases.

 

We went for a walk to Civic Square and along the harbour front. A memorial to those who came to and made New Zealand.

 

 

 

We came to the national museum, Te Papa, and visited the first of its many levels where at the entrance we were greeted by characters from The Hobbit. Tolkien seems to have taken over New Zealand.

There is an excellent exhibition of 'Awesome Forces' showing how plate tectonics, earthquakes, volcanoes and water have all shaped New Zealand's landscape.

 

 

 

'Mountains to Sea' displays New Zealand 's animals and plants. The presentation is superb and there is much fun for children.

Then a good supper at 'Humming Bird', one of the restaurants recommended by Simon.

 

Robert Cole

To Picton and some misadventures

We woke early to a beautiful sunny morning and I went for a walk through the pretty park-like areas of the town.

Again we decided to have breakfast on route and I drove off from our hotel just before 9.00. I'd been driving about 40 minutes when Clodagh remembered that we had forgotten to pack some clothes hanging up in a wardrobe.

 

 

 

So I drove back to the hotel, by which time we needed breakfast and had it at a small cafe in the sunshine. It was gone 11.00 before we left Hanmer Springs.

Lyall drove us back over the route we'd already been after which we started to climb and then drove through beautiful countryside. We wound round hills...

 

 

...and down into valleys.

The sun shone and we had a most enjoyable drive to Kaikoura on the coast.

 

 

 

 

I took over the driving along the coast road, which again was delightful but it was through one of the small towns that our second mishap occurred. I was stopped by the police for having sped through a 50k limit zone at 68k and incurred a $120 fine.

I drove more slowly on to the St Clair Winery, where Lyall bought us a snack lunch and a glass of their very good Sauvignon Blanc.

 

Then a short trip on to Picton. Our hotel room was described as having an 'ocean view', which it had but some way off.

 

 

 

 

I took a walk along the front and to the large marina before our evening meal.

 

Robert Cole

To Hanmer Springs

As we have the longest driving day today (nearly 6 hours), we decide to leave Mount Cook early and have breakfast at Lake Tekapo.

 

 

As Lyall drove off we have a last look at Mount Cook.

 

 

 

 

At Lake Tekapo we visited the small Church of the Good Shepherd on the lakeside...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

...with its clear window looking out over the lake and towards Mount Cook. We believe it was here that Alec Cooper, the son of Mike and Liz, was married.

 

I took over the driving for a long stretch before a late lunch stop. Our route had started out backed by mountains and we drove along lakesides, which appeared to have changed their hue from the previous day.

But the route changed to long straight rather boring stretches across featureless country.

 

 

 

After lunch, at Oxford, Lyall drove us over more beautiful English type countryside with winding roads through hills to Hanmer Springs where we arrived late afternoon.

 

A walk to the top of town with a good view over it to the hills beyond.

 

 

 

We later enjoyed a meal in the warm evening sunshine at 'Jollie Jacks' opposite our hotel.

 

Robert Cole

Mount Cook

It is a 4 hour journey to Mount Cook and I shared the driving with Lyall. The first part is along the coast north from Dunedin with some attractive views. We then turned inland and followed the Waitaki River valley, some of which is rather bleak. It was also very windy and we had to moderate our speed as our small car was bouncing along. We passed 3 dams and Aviemore is shown here with a horizontal wind sock, as the water is driven across Lake Aviemore.

There was very little other traffic as we got nearer to the Southern Alps which provided a snow capped background across Lake Pukaki.

 

Mount Cook is a small village with the majestic Hermitage Hotel, where Clodagh and I had a room with a superb balconied view to Mount Cook, which unfortunately was shrouded in cloud throughout our short stay.

 

Lyall and I took a walk towards Mount Cook along one of the well,defined tracks and I wished we had been able to spend another night here so that we could get in a really good mountain walk in this beautiful setting.

Our track was surrounded by multi-coloured wild lupins. Clodagh had bought me a packet of seeds of these and I look forward to growing these to remind me of this lovely spot.

 

 

Back to the hotel for a good buffet meal in the large dining room with its magnificent view of the mountains. We hoped the cloud would clear for a rose tipped view of the mountain at sunset but no joy.

The next morning Mount Cook was still shrouded in cloud as we left early so we could have breakfast on route. What a pity we did not have more time to stay longer.

 

Robert Cole

Back to Dunedin

A last walk along the lake at Te Anau.

I then met Denise and Clodagh at the town cinema where we watched a 30 minute film of Fiordland, which was so impressive I bought the DVD.

Denise then made the long drive back to Dunedin.

The next morning I did the walk down into Dunedin and to the new Settlers Museum, opened only a few days ago. Denise dropped Clodagh off there. The exhibits are superbly presented. We went first to a room lined with portraits and photos of eminent persons in Dunedin's history and where it was possible to bring to a screen details of any one of them.

There were rooms devoted to the gold rush era, fashions of the settler period and transport...

 

 

 

 

...of all kinds.

 

 

 

 

We continued to the nearby Chinese garden.

 

 

 

 

This garden commemorates the contribution Chinese people have made to Dunedin's history and prosperity.

 

 

 

To ensure authenticity the design was closely supervised by an architect from Shanghai, where it was per-fabricated, assembled, dismantled and transported to Dunedin.

Clodagh and I then had a late lunch, did some shopping and were picked up by Denise. I then sat in the sun on their balcony writing up this blog.

On our last day in Dunedin Lyall arrived and we all went off to lunch with their friends, Tony and Christine Arnerson. They have a lovely house and garden at Port Chalmers situated on high ground and surrounded on 3 sides by water. It was a warm sunny day and we sat on the terrace watching the harbour traffic going by.

 

A delightful end to ou visit to Dunedin. Then back home to prepare for our trip north with Lyall starting the next day.

Robert Cole