New Zealand 10 - Wellington

The first view of the North Island.

Wellington from the sea.

We caught up with a friend and just wandered for a while. 

Then headed to the Weta Workshop.  The place was amazing.  There’s no photography for much of the tour.  

There are three trolls outside, Gollum and Lurtz in the foyer. 

There are plenty of other Middle Earth characters along with characters from the many other films Weta have worked on.  The tour covers several rooms dealing with different aspects of the special affects - modelling, costumes, armoury.  Each room had a presentation either by a video or an artist, and then the chance to view examples up close.

The next day we did more of a tour.  Starting with a trip up the cable car (funicular) 

Then a short bus ride to Zealandia.  This is a 560-acre sanctuary for flightless birds protected by a predator-proof fence, centred on one of Wellington’s old reservoirs, about 5km from the centre of town.  Even without the birdlife, it would have been a great walk. 

Then back into the centre via the botanic gardens.

We then meandered to Te Papa Museum.  

One gallery was based on Gallipoli - and the stories of New Zealand soldiers during the campaign, very effective multimedia, and amazing oversized figures from Weta.

The natural history element was different to anywhere else I’ve been due to combining Maori beliefs with science.

Wellington Airport had a Smaug model, and Gandalf riding a giant eagle flying over the waiting area.

New Zealand Part 9 - Nelson, Abel Tasman, Queen Charlotte Drive and Picton

The road from the West Coast via St Arnaud to Picton is basically through steep wooded valleys.  These look more like commercial forestry in the main, rather than the variety of trees and plants in the birch woodlands further south, or the rainforests on the coast.  It felt much like areas in Scotland and Scandinavia we've passed through.  

Nelson was the largest place we visited on the South Island and a bit of a shock after nearly a week of staying in places with populations in the hundreds to somewhere with a population of 55,000.  I didn't feel great so probably did not explore what Nelson had to offer.

What we did see was Santa's parade, and it was strange seeing people in shorts and T-shirts waiting to see Santa and his reindeer.  The parade was surreal, with a few Christmas-themed floats, floats from local businesses and the Indian, Thai and Chinese communities,  and an ice cream truck decorated with tinsel in the parade and serving outside Santa's grotto!

Nelson's Christmas tree, with the cathedral tower in the background.  The Christmas tree really does not look out of place with blue skies and palm trees and leaves on all the trees.

Nelson is a good a base for a trip to Abel Tasman National Park.

We took the extended tour with Wilson's.  We sailed the full length of the coast from Kaiteriteri to Tōtaranui, then disembarked for around two hours for a walk at Medlands Bay before returning. The trip was a bit of a trade-off we could have walked for longer, but would not have seen as much of the coastline.

The scenery from the boat was wonderful.  

The coast was an unbroken woodland, usually with a couple of metres of rock between the trees and the sea, though there were some glorious golden sandy beaches.

The walk was around 5km along good paths with a couple of swing bridges and a couple of small waterfalls.  There were great coastal views.

We saw a lot of Weras including this fur ball!

The next day we headed to Picton.  We had a leg stretch at Peloras Bridge, which had several walks centred on the rocks, it was going to be a five-minute stop - we ended up staying around an hour.

Then we took Queen Charlotte Drive to Picton. This is a wonderful scenic road with a fair number of stopping points.

Picton was nice enough, we were only staying there because we had to be there at 6:30am for a ferry. It was late.

And then the ferry crossing from Picton to Wellington.  Much of the journey is through the Marlborough Sounds with steep, tree-covered sides and only occasional buildings.

After 13 days in the South Island it was time to leave for the North.