I set off for Wellington fairly promptly and after filling up with petrol spent the morning driving through more interesting scenery. I began to realise why it would have been impossible for me to cut across country to Napier on the coast before going to Wellington. There are just no roads in that direction on the map and the reason is that there is a series of steep ranges divided by steep ravines. Often there were high white cliff faces which were very spectacular.
Eventually I rejoined Highway 1 and followed this down through what looked like a series of towns on the coastal strip west of Palmerston North. Finally as I got into Wellington the road changed to motorway and I was not sure where to come off the motorway. There were no signs for the city centre just lots of exits which the names of streets that they led onto. Luckily I suddenly saw tall office blocks that looked like the CBD. I came off at the next exit and low and behold I was right in the city centre near the Parliament building.
Wellington is built on a set of hills and the roads are steep but lead downhill to the sea so I eventually found myself on the harbour front. Another piece of luck as there was a garage there where I could fill up, check the map and return the car to Apex Hire.
I was sorry to say good bye to my Nissan Sunny which had served me so well. The guy from the car hire gave me a lift to Wellington YHA and I could relax.
Again a piece of luck as the YHA was right next to the Te Papa museum which was the main thing that I wanted to visit there. After lunch I went and spent a really
interesting 3 hours there. I have to say that it is one of the best museums I have ever visited. It is free for a start. I focused on the section about volcanoes and plate tectonics in NZ which after the sights I had just seen was very informative. The other area that I spent a lot of time in was the one about the history of settlement in NZ. I was especially interested to hear about the impact the Maori had on the NZ natural habitat. Apparently they had cleared 50% of natural forest by the time the European settlers came. The Europeans finished the task off and of course there is now very little left. The Maori also hunted the moa to extinction. So the Brits aren't to blame for everything!!
Another interesting find in the museum was this giant squid found in Antarctic waters and brought back frozen to Te Papa to be preserved in this plastic block.
I was able to take a walk aroung Wellington harbour front and town centre after my my museum visit. It is a nicer town to be in than Auckland perhaps because of the harbour views and yet neither city has really wowed me. The shopping centres are very small and some how not as vibrant as the ones at home.
Wellington is a windy city and that night a gale got up and howled around the hostel all night. Next day someone told me it had been hurricane force!!
