Morgan in New Zealand: Wellington: New Zealand's National Capital

I had booked a flight to Wellington through Air New Zealand Grab-A-Seat and I took a day off school. We arrived early Saturday morning and left later Monday evening. Although it rained for the first two days, the third day was wonderful, and it was special to spend the time again with Evan. On Saturday, we visited the Famous Te Papa Museum and viewed exhibitions on Pacific Islanders and NZ Immigration, Maori culture, NZ topography, hurricanes, the earth, and oceanic marine life. The museum is pretty incredible and it is all free! We then went on a 4 hour Lord of the Rings tour (which Evan had been eagerly looking toward). We visited Mirimar (nicknamed Wellywood for its location of many sets for Lord of the Rings and Narnia) and Seatoun (where many of the actors from the movie lived during filming). The warehouses where the sets were located looked like any old building...it is amazing to think that so much goes on inside! We even saw Peter Jackson(the director of Lord of the Rings) walking into one of the studios with what looked like a theme birthday party. We visited Mt. Victoria and had a spectacular view of the city by night. We later went to a pub to watch the Rugby game-Australia vs. New Zealand (almost as big a deal as Georgia vs. Florida). On Sunday, we decided to sleep in and didn't get out the door until 11:30am. We walked through Frank Kitts Park and the Queens Wharf towards Parliament. We took a tour through the Beehive (the executive wing of government), the Parliament House, and the Parliamentary Library. And interesting fact that we learned is that New Zealand is one of the only 3 countries in the world that does NOT have a written constitution (the other two are Great Britain and Israel). We visited St. Paul's Cathedral, an Anglican Church across from Parliament and got an interesting tour to the bell tower. We walked through Cuba Street on the way back to the hostel, a street known for its cafes, shops, and brick footpath. On Monday, we took the Cable Car to Kelburn, a town at the top of the hill overlooking the city and the wharf. The Wellington Cable Car is a very iconic activity for tourists. From the top of the hill, we walked down through Wellington's Botanical Gardens, which were still stunning despite the winter weather. From there, we took a bus to Seatoun, where we tramped along the shoreline along the "Heads" (a nickname given to the rocky coastline in the Wellington Bay).

In the background left of the photo above is the Beehive, which is the executive wing of NZ's government. The other building is the Parliament House.

Next to the New Zealand flag in front of Parliament.

Riding the Cable Car to Kelburn.

The Wellington Cable Car climbs a steep incline to see the a bird's-eye view of the city.

We visited the Weta Cave, filled with handfuls of life-like Lord of the Rings figures. Weta is growing quickly in popularity in the film industry as New Zealand has set many scenes from Narnia and Lord of the Rings. Weta aids in make-up and costumes, sets, filming, editing, special effects, etc...