Mount Victoria, Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington Museum, Cable Car Museum
Back in Wellington, I started my day in the city by going up to the lookout point on Mount Victoria. In order to get there I had to go up the mountain along a dirt path that split in multiple places, and at least one of those paths had something to do with Lord of the Rings, but I didn’t care too much about it, so I just headed up the path without any delays.
It was a fairly short walk between the trees, with the views mostly hidden. The path was easy to walk on and offered no challenge, with only a small incline as I went up the mountain.
I got to the end of the path and found myself on relatively flat ground with a car park nearby, although the trees still blocked the view. After wandering around for a couple of minutes, I noticed the path keeps going, although this time on a paved road. A few minutes later I climbed up some stairs, and then I was finally at the lookout of Mount Victoria. The view all around was quite nice, although not much more than that. I’d say it fit the effort it took to get there.
The way back down on the other hand, was not so easy. It offered no physical challenge, but rather just annoyed me. I planned to keep going on the path toward Oriental Bay, but the signs were not clear (or at least not clear enough for me), and after trying to figure out where to go for a few minutes, I simply gave up on it and went back exactly the way I came.
After that mild start, I went to Te Papa Tongarewa, which I was told is the biggest in New Zealand and a great place to learn more about the history and the culture of the country. It started with a look at nature. There were quite a few animals on display, of different shapes and sizes, from different regions across the country. It seemed to be divided into different sections, rangings from birds to land and sea animals. If there was a particular order that I needed to follow, I might have missed it. Still, I found it quite enjoyable to just walk around the place, look at the different animals and learn a little bit about them. Some of the displays had instructions on them, and invited people to touch, listen, and even smell them. It was perhaps the first time I came across something like that in a museum, and I found it a bit odd. Other than the animals, there was also some information about the land itself, including a section about volcanoes.
The second gallery in the museum was about the first World War, and seemed to focus on the battle in Gallipoli. I remembered learning a bit about it when I was in Australia, but this time it seemed to be the focus, and from a different perspective. Other than general information and a timeline of the war, there was also information about specific soldiers (and nurses) that took part in that battle.
Next there was another gallery about the land of New Zealand and the changes it had over the years, mainly due to the people who settled here. Or in other words- Man is evil. Technically, part of that gallery was about how people’s mind and attitude changed over time, and what is now being done to try and fix it, but that seemed to be a small part of it.
Going up to yet another part of the museum, I started to feel a bit tired, and it was getting a bit difficult to focus. This last gallery started with some information about the Maritime history of New Zealand and the Maori people. There were a few ship models on display, as well as other sea- related items, and included information about the history and navigation in the waters of the pacific, from early Maori settlements to the European migration. It was quite a bit more than I expected, which was a nice surprise.
Other than that, this gallery also included the founding document of New Zealand, and some issues that came with it, such as the land rights of the Maori people. Next to it there was a traditional meeting place, although it was closed at the time I was there so I could only take a look from the outside.
Then there was a motorcycle on display, which was made in New Zealand and was holding a speed record, but to me it seemed random to put it in the museum. I went up to the top floor and to the terrace, where I took a quick look at the view of the city before heading back down.
Another museum that I wanted to visit was the Wellington Museum. It started with an introduction to what it used to be, The Bond Store. It was a nice way to start with an old look and feel to it. It then opened up to a much more modern and bright area which as far as I could tell was some kind of art gallery.
I took a quick look around before making my way to the next level of the museum, which was about the maritime history of Wellington. I didn’t see any signs that pointed me to go through it in a particular way, so I started on the left and made my way around the room. There were a few displays and signs with quite a bit of information about the city and the port. The old board room was available as well, but I didn’t find it very interesting.
The other side of this floor was dedicated to the Wahin, a ferry that crashed by the port on a very stormy day. Other than a few more items on display, and a timeline of the events of that day, there was also a video playing on a loop with a bit more insight and testimonies from some of the survivors.
I went up on more floor, to what was titled as “a millennium ago”. While I initially thought it would be about history from a thousand years ago, it was actually about relatively recent history, which took place during the later part of the previous millennium, which ended less than twenty five years ago. This floor too had a video playing on a loop, telling the stories of both the Wellington harbor and of Maui.
The last floor of the Wellington Museum was “The Attic”, and to me at least it seemed like a large and random collection of items, people, and stories from the history of the city. While pretty much everything was numbered, and for the most part I followed those numbers in order, I wasn’t sure if the order was important in any way.
One of the biggest attractions on that floor was the “time machine”. Essentially, a video that played segments from the history of Wellington and New Zealand, from the beginning of creation all the way to modern times. I took my time wandering around the place, and although I did see everything, I felt like I saw quite a bit. The museum had quite a bit to offer, and was worth stopping by.
The last museum I wanted to visit in Wellington was the cable car Museum. The building was smaller than I thought it would be, and most of the main floor was a souvenir shop. There was a model of one of the cars that took passengers up and down over the years, as well as a surprising amount of information and history about the cable car and the effects it had on the area. In the floor below it was another car model, as well as some car parts and an old maintenance area, which was showing how the cable car actually worked.
Other than that, there wasn’t much in the museum and I headed to my final destination, the botanic garden. But that excitement was short-lived. There was no botanic garden. At best, it can be called a park. It was a boring area without much color to it, and after making my way around for a few minutes I just didn’t want to be there any longer and made my way back. Unfortunately, my visit to Wellington ended with a massive disappointment.