Yellow Fish cruises: Day 65: Wellington

Happy Thanksgiving to all my American friends! I’m hearing about the wicked weather crossing the country on of the busiest travel days of the year. Safe travels to all those celebrating the holiday away from home.

When was the last time I did something for the first time? Today, when I walked a dog named Izzy through the Wellington Botanic Gardens on American Thanksgiving Day. And also today, when I had vegetarian coconut curry for Thanksgiving dinner. But it made me a tad bit nostalgic for the Thanksgivings of my youth, when extended family crowded around two 4x8 pieces of plywood set up end to end across the basement, covered with batting and tablecloths, all of us sitting on whatever chairs could be found. It was not unusual for Mom to cook dinner for 24 people. She and Dad were entertainers extraordinaire. Those days are not forgotten, Mom, and thanks for making those memories! ❤️

American Thanksgiving was recognized in each of the dining rooms

We’re not sure about the significance of the fish. ;-)

We were at breakfast in the DaVinci Dining Room shortly after it opened at 7am, and watched our arrival in Wellington, our first port on the North Island of New Zealand, from our table. G fueled up with The Lumberjack breakfast; I had the melon cocktail, orange segments and smoked salmon. Whatever. It doesn’t matter; I am well into my second week without taste or smell, and if it lasts much longer, my clothes will fall off me. What a weight loss plan.

Day 7 breakfast menu

Wellington, a city of about 1.6 million people, is the third capital of New Zealand. The first was at the northern tip in the Bay of Islands, the second was Auckland, but when a more central location was needed, Wellington, an existing city, was chosen. This means it’s the home of the coolest prime minister anywhere, Jacinda Ardern. The Ruby Princess docks at the freight dock, just a short distance from the city’s center, but passengers are required to take a large shuttle bus into town (free). We were dropped at the first stop on Lamdon Quay Street, and walked down a few blocks to the base of the Wellington Cable Car. We waited for just 5 minutes until we could board a cable car for the 5 minute ride up to the suburb of Kelburn and the Wellington Botanic Gardens.

The famous Wellington cable car

Once at the top, we took in the view of Te Whanganui-a-Tara Harbour, visited the Cable Car Museum. Here’s what I said about the museum in a blog post two years ago: 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).

Looking down at Te Whanganui-a-Tara Harbour

We then started walking back to town through the Botanic Gardens. Our first stop was at the Dominion Observatory, which offered benches with expansive views if the city and harbor. We took advantage of one of these for G to snack on the potato chips he’d bought at a little shop in town. I had bought a water bottle there, too. New Zealand bio security is so strict that non-commercially bottled water is not allowed to be brought off the ship. We’ve traded our minibar water bottles for Coke, and I’ve been buying a bottle of water in port.

The Dominion Observatory, built in 1907 and used to maintain New Zealand Mean Time

for the Time Service based on astronomical observations

Ferry arriving from the other side of the harbor

There is a much larger inter island ferry that travels across Cook Strait between

Wellington on the North Island and Picton on the South Island.

It leaves from near the freight port.

We’d heard that the rose garden at the Botanic Gardens was in full bloom, and set out to find it on one of the many trails through the park. Unsure if we were going the right way, we asked a man walking a dog (which earmarked him as a local) and he said we would get there eventually going that way, but he would show us a faster route. And that’s how I came to be walking on these beautiful trails holding Izzy’s leash. Izzy was Keith’s son’s dog, but Keith watches him while his son is at work, and walks him in the Botanic Gardens every day.

Seriously, every person we’ve met in New Zealand is incredibly friendly and welcoming. We spent at least a half hour walking with Keith and Izzy, as Keith told us about his city and answered our questions. G had heard that Wellington gets one noticeable earthquake every week, and Keith said that’s true. However, he said that their building codes are very strict, and the destruction that occurred during the Christchurch earthquake is less likely to occur in Wellington. Still, I’m not sure I could comfortably live with that risk.

One of the walking trails in the Botanic Gardens

Izzy and his grandpa Keith in the Herb Garden

The Lady Norwood Rose Garden

We left Keith and Izzy at the top of the Lady Norwood Rose Garden, and G and I made our way down to the rose displays. They were spectacular, at the height of their blooming season. I took lots of photos but didn’t want to spend the time tonight to label them all with their names. So simply enjoy some pix of pretty flowers.

Lunchtime ruggers (American: rugby) game

During WW2, this field was the site of an American military hospital where troops wounded

in the Pacific were sent for recovery. The troops were well looked after by the Wellingtonians.

We followed signs back to the city, which took us through the historic Bolton Street Cemetery. It initially seemed rather unusual to be routed through a cemetery but we were two of dozens of people doing the same thing, and some people were walking up the hill wearing sports clothing and carrying rugby balls to reach the rugby field next to the Botanic Gardens.

Path through the historic Bolton Street Cemetery

Once back to Lamdon Quay Street, we took a minute to check out the nearby Railway Station. We saw several backpacking groups of all ages, at the station, traveling New Zealand by train and hiking its many tracks (American: trails). Like Picton on the South Island, Wellington is a gateway for travelers.

We caught a shuttle bus back to the ship about 3pm. Given a choice between grabbing some lunch in the Horizon Court Buffet and putting our feet up, we chose the latter. We had walked a respectable 16000 steps today, much of it downhill, and for the first time in 27 years, I did that without pain. I have much to be thankful for tonight!

We met Helen and Allen in the Elite Lounge in Skywalkers and enjoyed chatting about our day while enjoying the beautiful views of Wellington, the harbor and the surrounding mountains. We then went to the DaVinci Dining Room for dinner when it opened at 5:15pm. There was a turkey dinner on the menu but G ordered the carved beef filet, and, as I said, I had the curry. It was a most non-traditional Thanksgiving dinner, but that’s fine by me.

Day 7 dinner menu, page 1

Day 7 dinner menu, page 2

Day 7 dessert menu

The Princess Theater entertainment tonight was a comedian-magician-yo-yo artist-top spinner. I can’t say we weren’t warned, and, considering we were, he was probably the best we could have hoped for. Let me just say that it’s nice Princess offers something for all passenger tastes. One of the production show singers, Brittany Howk, was doing her own show in the Explorers Lounge, most likely to round out the entertainment offerings a bit, but we were done for the day. There’s still a lot of coughing and sneezing going on in this cabin, but at least now it’s mostly not me doing it.