Wellington Pt 2

Flower Power (and Birds of Course)!

Monday morning, I frantically looked around for my binoculars but could not find them anywhere. My plan was to go to the museum and then wander around the botanic gardens with some of the friends I had made in the hostel. As I tore my locker apart, it suddenly hit me that I had left them in the very same food court in which I demolished my post-seal colony fajitas. They didn't open until 10:30. 

I decided to test my luck to see if anyone was in the food court anyway. A kind construction worker told me he'd keep an eye out and that he would hold onto them for me if he saw them. At that point I had done everything I could do, so I sat down for breakfast at Urban on Manners and went feral on my mushrooms on toast. 10:30 came along and the construction worker had found my binos. Crisis averted! I put them in my bag and headed to one of the coolest museums of all time.  

I love museums. The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa was no exception. Complete with five floors, the museum felt as big as the Smithsonian. The first floor was dedicated to te taiao. It was amazing to see the displays of ancient birds and the volcanic background of New Zealand. I deeply enjoyed this nature section of the museum. Moa pictured below!

After the first floor, I headed to the Gallipoli war history of New Zealand. There were lifelike giant sculptures that were kind of scary. That being said, they were incredibly vulnerable pieces of art and it was neat to get a more depth look at New Zealand's military history through the lenses of this artist. Here is a short snippet of some of the artwork. 

I left the museum around 1230 to meet up with some friends from Trek Global Backpackers! Sarah, August, Charlie, Seb and I all took the adorable cable car up to the gardens and perused. We were lucky to catch some tuis and red-crowned parakeets on the walk. Wellington has quite a hilly landscape so it was so fun climbing the hills to new flowers and vegetation! I present to you the gorgeous gardens feat. the most beautiful cemetery I've ever seen. 

Once we finished up the gardens, we walked around the 'beehive' (New Zealand's Parliament buildings) and eventually scootered back for a quick rest. Later in the evening, London and I met up for a delicious dinner at Dumpling'd. Afterwards, we made our way to Duck Island ice cream for post dinner treat. I decided on a white chocolate miso flavor. A good day I'll say!11/10. 

Tuesday was the day of ZEALANDIA.....

This was the part of my Wellington trip I was most excited about. Boy did it deliver! For those of you who are unfamiliar, Zealandia is the first predator free site in New Zealand. They built an ecosanctuary free of invasive predators to protect some of New Zealand's finest endemic species. The takahe, kereru and the little spotted kiwi are just a few of the species that thrive in this sanctuary. London and I took the shuttle up where we met up with Gabriella (ALSO FROM MISSOULA) for a Missoula, MT local Zealandia bird-watching extravaganza. We had a blast walking up the trails and pointing out new species like: the north island saddleback, stichbird and kaka! The view was magnificent and it was so fun to share it with new friends! 

The bus dropped us off right near the botanical gardens and the super-epic-awesome-and-cool space museum. The museum had a planetarium so I was keen to check out the night sky in the Southern hemisphere. The planetarium guide was fantastic and showed us how to navigate with the night sky in Aotearoa. It was an experience I will never forget; now I know how to find the Southern Cross!

The day came to an end after an epic round of pub quizzes at Jack Hackett's Irish Bar and the Little Beer Quarter. I was thrilled I got to use my knowledge of Christchurch geography to lock in a team point with the answer Akaroa. I also learned that the flattest US state is apparently Florida? How was anyone supposed to know that? I spent my last night in the hostel and then bussed to the airport early in the morning. A successful Wellington trip I'll say! 

I am currently packing up to go tramping up in Kaikoura this weekend! We will be staying in the New Zealand hut network and it will be my first official backpacking trip! 

Stay tuned!