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Published: November 15th 2006
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The Beehive
One of the government buildings. Wellington, NZ's capital perched on the southern tip of the N.Island, is known as "The Windy City" and it sure does live up to its name. It seems to be constantly blowing a gale and despite it being a lovely city with lots going on, being whipped about all day, everyday, must surely be tiresome for its residents.
Due to an Indian visa fiasco (for fiasco, see "improper preparataion and planning"), we needed to be in Welly 4 days after we arrived. Since we only had just over two weeks on the N.Island, we didn't want to spend a quarter of the time in one place so we headed north whilst the good people of the Indian High Commission busily sorted out our permits and returned to Welly when they were ready for us.
We stayed on Cuba Street, a hip and happening end of town comparable to Brick Lane in London - a cultural melting pot with a Boho edge. Loads of Asian eateries are dotted along the road so we sampled a bit of Malaysian cuisine for the first time and as a taster for our future visit.
From Cuba Street it's only a short walk
north into the engine room of NZ, where all of the government buildings are located. You can also take the cable car up above the university to get a great view of the city below. Down by the waterside sits the harbour, it's yachts and NZ's national museum, "Te Papa". Now, we've generally avoided museums for a while now - they tend to be very similar, often uninspiring experiences and we were pretty bored of the formulaic exhibitions. Christchurch's art gallery had reinvigorated us a little and from what we'd been told, Te Papa was supposedly not to be missed. We were not disappointed - Te Papa is awesome! It covers a multitude of floors with a multitude of themes and could easily take a multitude of days to explore - especially if you allow yourself to be fully immersed. We spent half a day under time constraints and saw all of the permanent exhibitions. It's very interactive, which is great for big kids like Lau and I. It explores many of the aspects important to the physical nature of NZ, it's wildlife and of course, its people - both the Maori and its European settlers. It's one of those
Putangirua Pinnacles
The gravels are 12-14 million years old and have been eroded by the Putangirua Stream to form the badlands. places that is best left undescribed (not least because I can't do it justice). Instead, we'll simply say, if you're going to NZ, don't miss it.
We visited the Otaki Gorge for a picnic - a beautiful valley surrounded by lush vegetation accessed along a windy beat-up road a world away from the big city but not that far.
After two full and enjoyable in and around the capital, we headed off towards the central plateau. We did manage a bit of a detour to see the Putangirua Pinnacles just east of Welly - a collection of gravel spires in the badlands of the Putangirua Stream. It's another LOTR film location (isn't everywhere in NZ?) - watch the third movie and look out for Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas riding through on their way to find the army of the dead.
Heading north towards the Central Plateau (volcano land) we stopped off at Wanganui, a worthwhile resting place, rich in heritage for both Maori and settlers alike - this river city is both attractive and charming. The biggest feature of the city is the Whanganui river, subtley different in spelling to the city but with entirely different pronunciation
- a "wh" is an "f", making Whanganui, "Fan-ga-noo-ee". The river road that follows the Whanganui to the Central Plateau, is a bit of a detour but worth it, to see the dense forest leading to the deeply incised gorges.
On a completely different subject, I thought I'd share with you all a frightening development. Driving the long winding roads of NZ we've been accompanied by my iPod as a source of entertainment and checking my play counts the other day, I realised how "middle of the road" my musical preference has become. My top ten plays include the unoffensive sounds of Coldplay, Snow Patrol & Damien Rice (Jayman will be proud) amongst others. Not a single pounding dance track figures and with it I've made a bitter realisation that I'm getting old and no longer have a penchant "to party like it's 1999" but instead, "to gently sway like it's 2006"!!
So, here are my top ten plays for all to see. Add them to your collection and sway along with me!
* Chocolate - Snow Patrol
* The Blower's Daughter - Damien Rice
* Fix You - Coldplay
* Square One - Coldplay
*
Raving
Laura decided a bit of impromptu dancing was necessary on the Otaki Gorge Road! Is it Chris Martin or Damien Rice, that's got her going? Forever Young - The Youth Group
* Butterflies & Hurricanes - Muse
* Set The Fire To The Third Bar - Snow Patrol featuring Martha Wainwright
* Forever Lost - The Magic Numbers
* Local Boy In The Photograph - Stereophonics
* Fake Plastic Trees - Radiohead
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