New Zealand's capital city - home to Parliament, the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa, a thriving film industry, and heaps of other icons of cool. Including wind scultpures that line the foreshore! This is more than a nod in the direction of the great god of wind Tawhirimatea.
.jpg)
The earliest Maori name for Wellington is Te Upoko o te Ika a Maui - which means ‘the head of Maui's fish’ - stemming from the Maori legend that polynesian navigator Maui fished up the North Island. Early tribes include Ngāi Tara, Rangitāne and Ngāti Mamoe. Chief Te Rauparaha, of the Ngāti Toa people, invaded in the 1820s and took Kapiti Island. Later, Taranaki tribes including Te Āti Awa moved south and became Wellington’s tangata whenua(people of the land).
Sited in the middle of the country, Wellington was well placed for trade. In 1839 it was chosen as the first major planned settlement for British immigrants coming to New Zealand, and several ships arrived at Petone in 1840. A business district soon grew around the harbour, which became a busy port.
Settlers also cleared the forest and built townships at Petone, Lower Hutt and Upper Hutt.
In 1865 Wellington was made the country’s capital, replacing Auckland. This gave the city a secure future. The government built a new Parliament and other grand buildings, and businesses flourished. Roads and railways helped spread the population away from the cramped city.
Today Wellington is a thriving urban centre with many galleries, museums, theatres and festivals. Cafés, restaurants, bars, shops, cinemas and apartments keep the inner city lively.
Small enough to be quirky, big enough to host the arts and busy enough to keep us amused, we eventually split into teams in order to explore the city fully and reported back over beers or breakfast.
Zealandia, a swathe of native bush only ten minutes from the centre city pick up where Dick and Elanor managed to spot two of New Zealands rarest birds (even more rare than the Kiwi), the Takahe.
City and Sea Musuem - one of the top 5 musuems in the world.
Parliament House Tour - the House is "sitting" so visitors were able to witness the debacle of the 'debating chamber' ("Our politicians talk a lot of rubbish too, said one of our group. But at least they wait til the other one has stopped talking before they start!")
Some of our group got to watch NZ's longest serving politician giving a press interview.
The rest of us ate at the Backbenchers and kept our eyes open for Back Biters (oops I mean politicans).
No comments:
Post a Comment