Year 2 – Day 180, Tuesday, October 25, 2022. Day 37 of our 1/2 world trip. We are in Wellington, New Zealand this morning.
Wellington is the capital of New Zealand. We watched the InterIslander Ferry Kaitaki cruise past our ship in the morning.
Kaitaki (meaning Challenger) can carry up to 1400 passengers. KIwiRail’s Interislander ferry service is an extension of State Highway 1 and the Main Trunk Line linking road and rail networks between New Zealand’s North and South islands. It sails from Wellington to Picton across Cook Strait. The journey takes three hours thirty minutes. The ferries in the Interislander fleet are nearing the end of their 30-year working lives. KiwiRail is replacing its existing three Interislander ferries with two new rail-enabled and more environmentally friendly ferries. The new ferries will come into operation in 2025 and 2026. This is another working port, and you have to take a shuttle bus to the city. It is a cold cloudy and drizzling day. We took the shuttle to the center of the city. There were really nice volunteers on the street greeting you and providing tourist information. After speaking with a tourist guide, we elected to take a short walk to the Wellington Cable car entrance.
It was $10.00 for a five-minute ride from the heart of the city center, up through the hillside terraced houses of Kelburn to the top. The views were fantastic at the top. There was a museum and gift shop there also.
We elected to walk back through the botanical gardens instead of taking the cable car back down. They had some very different plants and trees.
We wondered into the mid garden gift shop.
The trees had weird bark.
The hike down was very steep with beautiful bird sounds. I think I captured a picture of a Turdus merula Linnaeus. The Eurasian blackbird was introduced to New Zealand in 1758 and is now one of the most widely distributed bird species. Adult males are entirely black apart from their yellow bill and eye-ring. Females and juveniles are mostly dark brown, slightly mottled on the belly.
The gardens were huge with many different ways to go. You could spend hours just wandering around looking at the different species of plants and trees. We elected to head straight back to the city.
Steve was more interested in the workers and construction machinery.
The houses on the outskirts of the city are really nice. They are all constructed of wood with metal roofs.
We got back to the city and then were lost in New Zealand.
Most of the streets had no street signs. We had a map but with no street signs it was almost impossible to find our way around.
We were trying to at least make it back to the harbor. We walked for an hour or so up and down steep roads and lots of steps that connect the roads. I tried a few times to ask for directions, but people said they were in a hurry and could not assist us. We ended up in the middle of the business district and people were rushing. They did not want anything to do with two tourists wandering around. We did find a public bathroom and I saw these interesting toilets. I was later told that you push first button for just urine and the second button when you poop. I had never seen that before.
Finally, we found one of our shuttle bus stops and returned to the trip.
We were wet, cold, tired, and relieved to no longer be lost in New Zealand. This is the city of steep hills and many many stairs that go from street to street like little alleys. It was so nice to go back to our home, our room, and our view of the towel animal zoo.
To view the complete year 2 daily diary – Click here: https://deestimes.com/living-the-dream-year-2-may-1-2022-april-30-2023/
To view more information about New Zealand – Click here: https://deestimes.com/ports/
To view more information about Ovation of the Seas – Click here: https://deestimes.com/ovation-of-the-seas/
Today’s product recommendations are traveling essentials. 1) Luggage hand cart – we love this cart for easy rolling for easy cruise carry-on bags. Even when you can’t go to your room right away this is so easy to walk around the ship with. Here’s the link https://amzn.to/3s37EOw
2) This large toiletry bag is the best. Steve has the black and I have the pink. We both absolutely love them. Here’s the link https://amzn.to/3v1p6ok and picture
