NZ Train Journey, Day Two: Wellington

So, as one might expect, I woke up a bit later than I had intended, after my night out with brand-new friends. My original plan had been to go on a walking tour of the CBD that leaves from the visitor information storefront downtown every morning. Didn't make that. So after a late breakfast and a little intertubing, I walked up The Terrance to Cable Car Lane where, guess what, there was the downhill cable car station. I already posted a video of the ride up previously, but below is a video of the panoramic view at the uphill station at the Wellington Botanic Gardens. 

(Note: all locations can be found on the map in the previous Wellington entry)

The Botanic Gardens were awesome. If I lived in Wellington, I'd come up to this free amenity for a walk at least once a week. Maybe a walk and a nap. Watch the video below with the sound turned up to hear what the local insects sound like - they are quite a noisy bunch, but in a good way.

There were pieces of sculpture here and there along the path. Several were interactive, including one that you were intended to step inside of (pic above, Druid Hill). The video below was taken from within it. This is my foray into artsy-fartsy video-blogging...

Once done with walking through the gardens, I walked through the Cable Car Museum. It's amazing how many cities in New Zealand had cable cars and trollies - and this was back when these cities were even tinier than they are now. Yes, I bought the DVD. Next I walked back to town the long way, through Victoria University. Actually, it wasn't that long of a walk, because there are pedestrian cut-throughs going straight down the hill, passing in-between private parcels of land, eliminating the need to follow the car-path. A pedestrian cut-through system like this is something that I and other grad students constantly wished we could establish in American neighborhoods - and look, here it is.

View down the cut-through

Motorway tunnel

National War Memorial

Walked through town, seeing a few sights, and down to the waterfront where the Te Papa museum is located. This is the national cultural museum, and one could spend days there seeing all the exhibits. I drifted through several, but my favorite was the one on the Giant Squid that a long-liner brought up. The actual carcass was right there, in a glass coffin full of brine. Finally I made my way to the hostel and headed to happy hour at the hostel bar. Tony and Isak met me there and we had a few while meeting other residents and playing with the giant Jenga set. Having to hop on the ferry early in morning, I made an early exit, which was regretful, as the happy hour group had decided to head to Cuba Street to hear some live music and continue the drinking...

Irish Slingblade and the Giant Jenga