Friday, January 20, 2023

Day 14 Wellington, NZ

Breakfast at hotel. As soon as we boarded the bus, Harry shared the sad news that one of our new friends tested positive for COVID-19. Ann will have to isolate for 5 days in Wellington. Her loving husband, Ron, will stay with her until they can join us again in Australia.

We powered onward with a short drive to Zealandia, an ecosanctuary of native forest and lakes. Our group was split into 2. My guide John was very knowledgeable and funny. We failed most of his quizzes. We saw Takahē (red-beaked bird with huge feet), Shags, Wood Pigeon/Kererū (huge), Tūī (love their little bowties), Red-crowned Parakeet/Kakariki (biggest parakeet I've ever seen), North Island Robin/Toutouwai, California Quail (with chicks), NZ Fantail/Piwakawaka (bat-like acrobatics), Mallard ducks, Kākā (plain on top, brilliant orange under their wings), and Tuatara (a reptile with its very own order). The cheeky Kākā birds kept buzzing my head. I realized later that the beads on my hat may have looked like food to them.

Then we drove to the top of the Wellington Cable Car line. Great view of the Wellington Harbour from there. The cars don't look much like San Francisco cable cars; more like a funicular. It was a very steep, but short ride down the hill to the city center. 

We walked to our lunch spot, Karaka Cafe. We had pre-ordered our lunches several days ago. As usual, Harry had to remind us what we ordered. I had ordered a vegetarian fritter, which turned out to be very good.

Then we took the short walk to Te Papa Tongarewa: National Museum of Aotearoa New Zealand. Our docent Wyatt was hilarious. He introduced a few key displays of this magnificent facility. The colossal squid was eerie. The nature area was very interesting to this science geek. Wyatt had entertaining stories about the people in the portrait gallery. The Māori Rongomaraeroa Marae was beautiful. After our tour, I spent another 1.5 hours there. Gallipoli: The Scale of our War exhibit was incredibly well done. I experienced an "earthquake" in the earthquake house. I revisited the nature area, to learn more about the unique animals of NZ. I went to the 6th level viewing terrace. The famous Wellington wind almost knocked me over. I'm told today's wind was a mere breeze compared to many days.

Well, well, well. This is RockWELL, soon bidding fareWELL to windy WELLington.

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