NZ Day 19 - Wellington

Last day in Wellington :-( I didn't do much today. Some shopping, some coffee, then visited Te Papa - the museum of NZ. It's a fantastic museum - reminds me a lot of Melbourne Museum with it's interactive exhibits.

I spied this sculpture from a walkway inside - as you can see from the weather, I wasn't about to venture outside to get a better photo.

The Maori exhibits are particularly good - I learnt a lot today.

But my absolute favourite exhibit was Golden Days - a junk shop that comes to life to show us 100 years of NZ history. It's awesome - really well done.

Goodbye Windy Welly. I've had an awesome time. I'm sorry that I can never live here, but your weather is too extreme for me.

And goodbye for now NZ - I'll be back soon.

NZ Day 18 - Wellington

It was really nice to be back in Wellington. Back to bars and cafes and restaurants and cool shopping. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely loved the south island and had a ball. But right now, I'm pretty much a city girl. And Wellington is a cool city.

After a leisurely breakfast we stopped off at the Weta Cave. Cool! I used to be a massive LOTR nerd, though admittedly, I have let my knowledge slip in the last few years.

Here is Gollum, thinking 'what the hell is this girl looking at...'

The orc Lurtz guarding the entrance.

After dropping the bro at the airport, friend A & I headed up to the Mount Victoria lookout to check out its 360 degree views. Pretty nice.

Then we decided to go even higher & find the wind farm. On the way we passed Brooklyn Library - a Wellington City Library branch.

The wind turbine was cool. I've never seen one up this close. They're pretty big. I'm that black spec you can see at the bottom of the tower.

They look cool from below as well.

Plus, the views up there were fantastic - a lot higher than Mount Vic, though not 360.

Then it was back into town for a wander around. We found ourselves in the civic district. The City Gallery is on the right, Wellington City Centre library on the left. With a random flying object in the middle (or is that unidentified flying object?).

The library has a really funky, industrial vibe. I have hung out there a couple of times over the last few days & have enjoyed every minute.

View across the civic square from the library steps.

Some sculptures that caught my eye. Wellington is full of sculpture and public art, it's one of the things that gives the city such a great character.