Wellington, New Zealand

 Wellington, New Zealand
Our friends from our 2022 world cruise, Margaret and Kevin, native New Zealanders or “Kiwis”, are avid bridge players and dear people. They were leaving for their next around-the-world cruise on Dec. 28 and didn’t bat an eye about hosting us Dec. 22-27. Not only did they furnish food (we enjoyed seeing some of their own favorite restaurants) but transported us all over the area to see every sight a tourist must see. We are beyond grateful.

Here’s a capsule of our on-going days:

Wellington:

First, if you are a Lord of the Rings (LOTR) fan, you need to look up the Wellington, NZ Airport to see the surprises there. I only had time to snap one photo myself, so the airport website will show you
everything else.

Weta Workplace is a must-see for any avid LOTR aficionado. Here is where the props and the make-up prostheses and costumes were created. 40,000 individual items. Many are displayed. An hour-long
guided tour takes you into the creative imaginations of this unique place, with one artist still at work.
(What is a weta? It’s a cross between what we would see as a cricket and a cicada but a weta cannot
fly.) The LOTR fandom is so popular and so international that they are creating scaled-down versions of characters and parts of the settings that continue to be sold out. There are some photos to show you.

Zealandia is a wildlife ecosanctuary within a very large park/rain forest. It boasts “an extraordinary 500-year vision to restore the valley’s forest and freshwater ecosystems as closely as possible to pre-human state.” One can amble on its hundreds of trails and hope to find some almost extinct native animals like a Tuatara (good sized lizard), Takahe and Kiwi (flightless birds), etc. It was intermittently raining this day, so we spent a couple hours, took some fun photos, and explored elsewhere.

Maori Structure

Te Papa star reader guide

Margaret has a morning routine of stopping at a long-running coffee truck, getting a cup of coffee (they

drink it thick here) and walking a park near their home. You’ll see some photos of a white duck and its
brown mate that are friendly and always hoping for a hand-out.

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, affectionally called “Papa” is a must-see. From the top
were some very lovely views of the harbor. The top floors were mostly a museum of art. There was a
large dinosaur exhibit and on the bottom floor was a large exhibit relating to WWI which is the war that
is most etched in the county’s consciousness.

Christmas Eve, we were dropped off at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church for their early evening worship. The youth were in Christmas Story costumes and with memorized rhymes, showed a short no-room-at-the-inn story with a modern twist. Then the story was read from Matt., Luke, and John with lots of carols in between, including a Maori one that was new to us. I had time to visit with the person next to me and learned that NZ still doesn’t ordain women; that at the last 2 synod assemblies, the motion had failed by only ten ballots. Sure do wish I’d been invited to the microphone before the dismissal…heh.

Margaret is a real estate agent. Christmas day lunch (feast) was at the home of one of her sons, and was
probably the most unique house we’ve ever been in. It is located right above an ocean bay, is two round
houses connected with curving walls, and is a mass of windows, decks, and discreet passages to hidden
bedrooms and office spaces. A couple photos try to show its singularity.

Just before dropping us at the ferry to the South Island, Margaret drove us around the downtown to see
architecture, including “the Beehive” which is one end of the Parliament building. You’ll recognize it in
the photos.