Fortunately the sun came out for our city tour of Wellington. We had a guided tour of the Parliament Buildings followed by a cable car ride up to Kelburn just outside of the Botanic Garden.
View of Wellington Harbour from my room at the Copthorne Hotel
View of Wellington from Kelburn
Our tour ended with a guided visit of the Te Papa Tongarewa National Museum, and I decided to spend the rest of the day there. The geologic, historical and Maori exhibits are absolutely fantastic, and there is also a “bush city” where they are growing their own rainforest! From the museum it was a relatively short walk back to the hotel along the harbour front; it was extremely windy but otherwise pleasant. I joined several folks for dinner at the Lone Star, a Texas style restaurant that serves extremely generous portions in a very lively atmosphere – judging from the crowd, it seems to be “the happening place” in Wellington. We all probably should have dressed warmer, however, as it was a cold windy walk back to our hotel.
Te Papa Tongarewa National Museum, Wellington
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