Our day in Wellington, capital of NZ, dawned bright and clear after the storms of the previous day. We spent the majority of the day visiting the Museum of NZ, Te Papa (translation…. container of treasures). Many people had strongly recommended we visit, and they were right, the stories are interesting and educational. To start, we visited the newly completed Gallipoli exhibit, which probably ranks in the top 5 exhibits we have seen for WW1. I will not write here about the battle, it would take too long, but it was noteworthy for being the first time Australian and NZ forces fought together under a single command, as ANZACS. Moving on, we discovered where the Maori originated from, and how they arrived at Aotearoa, the Land of the Long White Cloud. A detailed explanation of the Treaty of Waitangi, between the Maori chiefs and the English goverment in 1840, creating a framework for how the relationship between the two would operate, unfortunately broken many times by the British. The museum also contained stories from those who have since emigrated to NZ, where they came from, and what made them travel to the other side of the world, to a place they had little or no knowledge of. A good day! We then met Fay, a friend of Deb’s from the IWC in Bratislava, and her husband Greg for dinner. After a pleasant few hours, Greg took us on a drive around Wellington, showing us the various suburbs and the highlights of the City. We really appreciated the opportunity to see and understand more about this very interesting place.

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And then the drive north, up and over the Rimutaka Range, a long and twisty piece of road which took us over the mountains north of Wellington and into the Wairarapa.

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We were fortunate to have decided to spend a night near Napier, over on the eastern side of the North Island. A fascinating and beautiful place, particularly in the early morning sun. In 1931 they suffered a significant earthquake, which destroyed a major part of the town. They decided to drag the rubble onto the beach, and set about rebuilding. However, they used Art Deco architectural design principles when doing so, which they have steadfastly preserved to this day. So they now have a wonderful Art Deco time capsule, which was great to walk around. And the rubble on the beach, they used as foundations for their Marine Gardens, which are a real credit to the town. The other benefit to this location, it is in the middle of the Hawkes Bay wine area, the 2nd major wine making region of NZ.

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And so to Rotorua, the area best known for its geothermal activity, think hot springs, mud pools and geysers, and for the Maori culture. We attended a Hangi, a feast, at the Tamaki Maori Village, following the traditional welcome process, learning about the Maori culture, and eating the most amazing food cooked on hot lava stones buried in the ground… roast lamb will never taste so good again.

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We visited Hobbiton, or for Tolkien fans, The Shire. Originally built for the Lord of the Rings films in 1999, it was made from polystyrene, wire, and other temporary building materials, with most of the stuff removed when they finished filming. But, with the decision to shoot The Hobbit trilogy, they needed to return and rebuild it in 2009, this time “doing it properly”, and building it to last. As fans of the films we would have to say, it was truly like walking in The Shire, the hobbit holes, gardens, paths and trees, everything growing, everything real, but from the make believe of book and film.

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