We had another rough night last night, and G has discovered the best sleep of the night comes after the ship is docked and stable (7am today). I was awake and having breakfast in the Horizon Court Buffet by 8am, but when the chilly day added rain to the mix, decided G had the right idea and returned to the cabin. There was more college football on TV, and we alternately watched it and slept until about 11am when the weather finally cleared. In that sense, this weather is familiar; I remember the rainy mornings turning nicer by mid-day from when we were in New Zealand in late November. The rough seas, not so much.
We walked off the ship about 11:30am, dressed more warmly than most, but later glad we were. I don’t think it got out of the 50s today, and when we were along the waterfront, the wind made it feel downright cold. The port of Wellington is a busy freight and ferry port, and provides a free shuttle right into downtown Wellington. We were in port with the Sea Princess today (I think that’s the first time this season we’ve been in port with another ship, which is just one more reason to enjoy cruising in this part of the world).
This was our first visit to Wellington, which we’d missed on a cruise years ago because of the wind. The capital of New Zealand, Wellington is located at the southern end of the North Island, directly on Cook Strait, the body of water separating the North and South Islands. The area was first occupied by the Maori in the 10th century AD, and was officially established by European settlers in 1840. It was once New Zealand’s fastest growing city, and today is home to about 400,000 people.
After we were dropped off by the shuttle bus, we walked a couple of blocks back toward the waterfront. Once again, G really wanted to do a helicopter tour over the city, and Wellington Helicopters had an office right on the water. Unfortunately, also once again, they had no openings this afternoon. Instead, we walked along the redeveloped waterfront area and stopped into the Wellington Museum. The museum gave a good overview of the Maori and European history of the area.
From there, we walked away from the water a couple of blocks to the base of Wellington’s most famous landmark, the Wellington Cablecar. The cablecar was opened in 1902 to provide transportation to the city center from new housing developments on the hills overlooking the town. From the top of the cable car, horse-drawn carriages provided transportation to areas even further away. The ticket price of $7.50 NZD per person (about $5 USD) makes this attraction a bargain, and we waited just 20 minutes or so to board a cablecar for the 8 minute ride through three tunnels. The views of Cook Strait and the mountains surrounding Wellington from the top were spectacular.
Our first stop at the top was the Cablecar Museum, housed since 2000 in what was the original winding house. The winding house was built in 1902 to accommodate the steam engine and winding gear and to serve as a maintenance depot for the grip cars. Over the years, the building had been altered to accommodate changes in the pulley system, most dramatically in 1933 when electricity replaced steam as the force driving the winding gear. When new technology rendered the winding house redundant in 1978, the building sat vacant until opening as a museum. The museum was excellent, and I had a hard time getting G out of it (my dad would have still been there, reading every single word of the displays).
There were a couple of different trails (called tracks) around the top of the hill, and we chose one which went through the Botanic Gardens. At 4pm we had to make a choice: stay a little longer and skip dinner in the Bernini Dining Room (the last shuttle back to the ship left town at 6pm), or leave then and go to dinner. Still unwilling to miss a single dinner with Alona and Lydia, we took the cablecar back down and returned to the ship about 4:30pm.
Dinner was a scallop starter, salad, and grilled sole with mushrooms sautéed in olive oil. I am going to miss these meals!! The interior of the ship was freezing; the gangways had been set up midship on Decks 5 and 6 and that cool air had poured into the ship all day. Following dinner, we returned to the cabin to put on fleeces and went to the Princess Theater for the 7:45pm performance of variety jugglers/acrobats Cameo Rascale. Though not our favorite kind of entertainment, they were really good, especially considering how much the ship was bouncing. The kids, in particular, loved the show.
Back in our cabin, it was immediately obvious that this is the roughest night we’ve had this season. Nighttime ablutions were completed while holding onto the vanity with one hand, and walking from bathroom to bed is a risky maneuver. We may be getting our best sleep of the night after 8am tomorrow.
Hawaii is looking better all the time. ;-)