Wellington is the capital of New Zealand and was the last of the three ports which we would visit a second time. We arrived in the morning, maneuvering through a very narrow channel, and docked at the commercial port by a container ship being loaded with logs. Lumber is the leading export commodity for the country and there were large lumber yards at several of the ports where we docked. The interesting thing is that the lumber is shipped to Japan, processed into wood chips and shipped back to New Zealand! I never really understood that one. The first thing I noticed about Wellington, aside from the logs, was the traffic. It’s a big city and we were docked overlooking a major highway leading into the downtown area. The second was that it was windy and cold! Wellington is situated at the southern tip of the North Island, near Cook Strait, which separates the North and South Islands and joins the Tasman Sea to the Pacific Ocean. To quote Wikipedia, “Cook Strait is one of the most dangerous and unpredictable waters in the world”. And the weather is just as unpredictable. The only constant seems to be the wind and I found that Wellington is nicknamed “Windy Wellington”.
I had scheduled two half-day excursions, Seal Coast Safari in the morning and Wellington Highlights in the afternoon. I was really anticipating the seal-watching trip and, while I don’t get very excited about city tours, I thought that I might get some ideas for our second stop here. We were picked up in a Toyota Land Cruiser for
the morning trip. Since I was traveling solo, I sat in the front with the driver while three couples sat in the back on side-facing bench seats. After driving through the city, we started four-wheeling straight up a mountain on a very narrow, very bendy and very steep dirt road. Sound familiar? The mountain was a bit over three thousand feet tall, not especially high as mountains go. What made the trip so “exciting” were the clouds hanging over the mountain and the seventy-plus mile per hour winds blowing across the road as we neared the summit! It’s really hard to describe what it was like driving along a ridge in a dense fog with hurricane-force crosswinds and drop-offs of several thousand feet on either side of a dirt road! I didn’t think to try for pictures but it wouldn’t have captured my terror anyway. Let’s just say it was a very scary ride and I was extremely happy once I saw the shoreline on the
other side.
When we reached the coast, we turned onto the beach and headed for the seal colony at Tongue Point. Driving through the sand was an interesting experience. It wasn’t hard-packed sand like you see at Daytona. Instead it was soft, loose, volcanic sand which was deeply rutted most of the way up the
beach. Several times we almost got stuck but managed to keep moving. By the way, the scenery on the coast was fantastic, as usual. It was a very rocky shoreline and the winds were causing some magnificent wave action, with foam and spray blowing everywhere. I did snap some pictures of that as we drove along! After more slippin’ and slidin’ through the sand, we reached Tongue Point and the seals. The colony normally consists of around twenty individuals but there were only three ashore when we arrived. The guide figured that the others were in the water, feeding or getting out of the weather. By the way, the wind had died down to “only” fifty mph or so. We had
coffee and tea with the seals, huddled around or actually inside the vehicles. I took some pictures, admired the scenery and tried to stay warm until it was time to leave. On the drive back, one of the other vehicles got stuck in the sand. Everyone had to get out and walk while they tried to free it. We got to stay warm and watch while the others were having their faces sand-blasted by the winds. I wasn’t looking forward to driving back over the mountain and we didn’t! Actually, we didn’t have to drive over it in the first place. We simply drove a little farther down the beach, got onto a paved road and drove straight back to Wellington. I guess that the morning drive was just to give the tourists a thrill. If so, it worked!
The afternoon sightseeing tour was much less exciting than the morning excursion but interesting nonetheless. We boarded full-sized buses and drove around town for a bit, then rode the cable car from the city center up to Kelburn. The views from the lookout over the city were terrific. The bus met us at the top of the hill for our visit to the Botanical Gardens. The outdoor formal gardens are impressive but, since it was early spring, there weren’t many blooming plants. Too bad, I’ll bet it’s gorgeous later in the season. The begonia house made up for the lack of flowers in the gardens. It was full of beautiful plants. I assume they were all begonias but I may be wrong. Next,
we made a brief picture stop at the government buildings, i.e. the “Beehive” and parliament buildings and the Library. Then we visited Old St Paul’s Church, constructed in 1866 entirely from native timbers. The interior of the church and the stained-glass windows are beautiful. After leaving the church, we headed for our final stop, Mount Victoria, for some panoramic views of the city. The views were good but the wind was blowing as strong as ever, so I didn’t spend much time outside the bus. Besides, I had already taken so many scenic pictures that the urgency just wasn’t there. I was ready to go home! My ship home, that is!
We made it back to the Volendam safe and sound. It had been a very long but satisfying day. One more sea day and we would be in Auckland, the end of this leg of the cruise.
I had scheduled two half-day excursions, Seal Coast Safari in the morning and Wellington Highlights in the afternoon. I was really anticipating the seal-watching trip and, while I don’t get very excited about city tours, I thought that I might get some ideas for our second stop here. We were picked up in a Toyota Land Cruiser for
the morning trip. Since I was traveling solo, I sat in the front with the driver while three couples sat in the back on side-facing bench seats. After driving through the city, we started four-wheeling straight up a mountain on a very narrow, very bendy and very steep dirt road. Sound familiar? The mountain was a bit over three thousand feet tall, not especially high as mountains go. What made the trip so “exciting” were the clouds hanging over the mountain and the seventy-plus mile per hour winds blowing across the road as we neared the summit! It’s really hard to describe what it was like driving along a ridge in a dense fog with hurricane-force crosswinds and drop-offs of several thousand feet on either side of a dirt road! I didn’t think to try for pictures but it wouldn’t have captured my terror anyway. Let’s just say it was a very scary ride and I was extremely happy once I saw the shoreline on the
other side.When we reached the coast, we turned onto the beach and headed for the seal colony at Tongue Point. Driving through the sand was an interesting experience. It wasn’t hard-packed sand like you see at Daytona. Instead it was soft, loose, volcanic sand which was deeply rutted most of the way up the
beach. Several times we almost got stuck but managed to keep moving. By the way, the scenery on the coast was fantastic, as usual. It was a very rocky shoreline and the winds were causing some magnificent wave action, with foam and spray blowing everywhere. I did snap some pictures of that as we drove along! After more slippin’ and slidin’ through the sand, we reached Tongue Point and the seals. The colony normally consists of around twenty individuals but there were only three ashore when we arrived. The guide figured that the others were in the water, feeding or getting out of the weather. By the way, the wind had died down to “only” fifty mph or so. We had
coffee and tea with the seals, huddled around or actually inside the vehicles. I took some pictures, admired the scenery and tried to stay warm until it was time to leave. On the drive back, one of the other vehicles got stuck in the sand. Everyone had to get out and walk while they tried to free it. We got to stay warm and watch while the others were having their faces sand-blasted by the winds. I wasn’t looking forward to driving back over the mountain and we didn’t! Actually, we didn’t have to drive over it in the first place. We simply drove a little farther down the beach, got onto a paved road and drove straight back to Wellington. I guess that the morning drive was just to give the tourists a thrill. If so, it worked!
The afternoon sightseeing tour was much less exciting than the morning excursion but interesting nonetheless. We boarded full-sized buses and drove around town for a bit, then rode the cable car from the city center up to Kelburn. The views from the lookout over the city were terrific. The bus met us at the top of the hill for our visit to the Botanical Gardens. The outdoor formal gardens are impressive but, since it was early spring, there weren’t many blooming plants. Too bad, I’ll bet it’s gorgeous later in the season. The begonia house made up for the lack of flowers in the gardens. It was full of beautiful plants. I assume they were all begonias but I may be wrong. Next,
we made a brief picture stop at the government buildings, i.e. the “Beehive” and parliament buildings and the Library. Then we visited Old St Paul’s Church, constructed in 1866 entirely from native timbers. The interior of the church and the stained-glass windows are beautiful. After leaving the church, we headed for our final stop, Mount Victoria, for some panoramic views of the city. The views were good but the wind was blowing as strong as ever, so I didn’t spend much time outside the bus. Besides, I had already taken so many scenic pictures that the urgency just wasn’t there. I was ready to go home! My ship home, that is!We made it back to the Volendam safe and sound. It had been a very long but satisfying day. One more sea day and we would be in Auckland, the end of this leg of the cruise.
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