A Day in Wellington Day 11 Go Ahead NZ Untamed Landscapes #goaheadtours #newzealand
Traveler's Log Sunday November 27, 2016
The Mighty All Blacks
Te Papa Museum
Craft Beer Capital Beer Trail
Kia Ora
Go All Blacks!
We're in Wellington, the capital of New Zealand. Above is a picture of the "Beehive" the government building in the town's center.
We're up at 8 a.m. for our hotel buffet breakfast, the James Cook Hotel Grand Chancellor puts on a very nice spread with made to order eggs. Poached for me please.
Our group makes its way to the waterfront.
On tap for today, the All Blacks play France. Erica has booked us a couple of tables at Bin 44 on the waterfront to watch the game.
As Americans we're not sure what all this Rugby fuss is about. But beers at 9 a.m. can't be bad. Besides the Oatmeal Stout is like cereal, right?
I have second breakfast. Mac and Cheese with Bacon Grilled Cheese Sandwich, oh my.
We all stare at the big screens as the All Blacks perform the Haka.
It's a Maori Warrior dance that is supposed to intimidate the enemy. For this game, the tension is very high. But the All Blacks come out of it with a win so the bar is quite happy.
We head back to the hotel to meet our bus and the other's who did not attend the game watching event and head out onto the streets of Wellington for a quick tour.
Locals call this town Windy Hilly Welly and it is pretty hilly. The more affluent residents have cable cars up to their houses on the hill.
We make a quick stop at the Wellington Botanical Gardens and the Lady Norwood Rose Garden. The rose collection is spectacular.
And their greenhouse collection is magnificent.
Our next stop is the Te Papa Museum.
Our group breaks up into two groups for private tours of the museum. The Museum covers geology, wars, earthquakes, volcanoes and has a copy of the Treaty of Waitangi, the treaty that shaped and united the peoples of Aotearoa New Zealand.
They are currently running an exhibit of New Zealanders sacrifice at Gallipoli with larger than life models created by Weta Workshop at 2.4 times human size.
Unfortunately the exhibit about sea life is closed, it was affected by the recent earthquake and needs repairs.
After the museum, Jay and I are back on the Beer Trail. We hit Black Dog but they have no stouts or porters.
We end up back at the Matlhouse, hunting for good beer can make you thirsty.
After we re-charge, we're off seeking more brews.
We notice that some of the buildings and streets are closed due to the quake.
Some of the older buildings we learn, will have to be torn down.
We arrive at the Fork and Brewer and it's closed on Sunday-WHAT??
Just around the corner and up the hill in a small alley we find Little Beer Quarters. WOW, what a find!
Jay had the milk stout and I had a 1/2 pint of cask conditioned Coconut Porter (it was really good!). By now were were getting hungry again. We wait for the kitchen to open and it was worth the wait! Jay had a yummy chicken burger and I had their broccoli, cashew, miso risotto with sprouts-it rocked!
We walked back to our hotel, walking off some of those amazing dinners and those yummy craft beers calories. In bed by 8:30, we have a 5:15 wake up.
Next up: A long bus ride to Rotorua. Our introduction to Maori Culture and a Hangi Feast.
More pictures of our Day In Wellington: https://photosbynanci.smugmug.com/New-Zealand-2016/Wellington-Sunday/
Day 1 and 2-Travel Days to New Zealand
Day 3 Queenstown
Day 4 Milford Sound
Day 5 Queenstown, Free Day
Day 6 Fox Glacier
Day 7 Hokitika, Punakaiki
Day 8 Pancake Rocks, Cape Foulwind, Westport, Nelson
Day 9 Nelson, Dinner with a Kiwi Family
Craft Beer Capital Beer Trail
Kia Ora
Go All Blacks!
We're in Wellington, the capital of New Zealand. Above is a picture of the "Beehive" the government building in the town's center.
We're up at 8 a.m. for our hotel buffet breakfast, the James Cook Hotel Grand Chancellor puts on a very nice spread with made to order eggs. Poached for me please.
Our group makes its way to the waterfront.
On tap for today, the All Blacks play France. Erica has booked us a couple of tables at Bin 44 on the waterfront to watch the game.
I have second breakfast. Mac and Cheese with Bacon Grilled Cheese Sandwich, oh my.
We all stare at the big screens as the All Blacks perform the Haka.
We head back to the hotel to meet our bus and the other's who did not attend the game watching event and head out onto the streets of Wellington for a quick tour.
Locals call this town Windy Hilly Welly and it is pretty hilly. The more affluent residents have cable cars up to their houses on the hill.
We make a quick stop at the Wellington Botanical Gardens and the Lady Norwood Rose Garden. The rose collection is spectacular.
And their greenhouse collection is magnificent.
Our next stop is the Te Papa Museum.
Our group breaks up into two groups for private tours of the museum. The Museum covers geology, wars, earthquakes, volcanoes and has a copy of the Treaty of Waitangi, the treaty that shaped and united the peoples of Aotearoa New Zealand.
They are currently running an exhibit of New Zealanders sacrifice at Gallipoli with larger than life models created by Weta Workshop at 2.4 times human size.
Unfortunately the exhibit about sea life is closed, it was affected by the recent earthquake and needs repairs.
After the museum, Jay and I are back on the Beer Trail. We hit Black Dog but they have no stouts or porters.
We end up back at the Matlhouse, hunting for good beer can make you thirsty.
After we re-charge, we're off seeking more brews.
We notice that some of the buildings and streets are closed due to the quake.
We arrive at the Fork and Brewer and it's closed on Sunday-WHAT??
Just around the corner and up the hill in a small alley we find Little Beer Quarters. WOW, what a find!
We walked back to our hotel, walking off some of those amazing dinners and those yummy craft beers calories. In bed by 8:30, we have a 5:15 wake up.
Next up: A long bus ride to Rotorua. Our introduction to Maori Culture and a Hangi Feast.
More pictures of our Day In Wellington: https://photosbynanci.smugmug.com/New-Zealand-2016/Wellington-Sunday/
Day 1 and 2-Travel Days to New Zealand
Day 3 Queenstown
Day 4 Milford Sound
Day 5 Queenstown, Free Day
Day 6 Fox Glacier
Day 7 Hokitika, Punakaiki
Day 8 Pancake Rocks, Cape Foulwind, Westport, Nelson
Day 9 Nelson, Dinner with a Kiwi Family
Day 10 Nelson to Wellington
FYI Christchurch Quake Map There was a 7.8M quake a few days before we landed. This map shows all the quakes then and now.
Day 11 Wellington
Day 12 Rotorua
Day 13 Rotorua
Day 14 Auckland
Day 15 Auckland and departure
FYI Christchurch Quake Map There was a 7.8M quake a few days before we landed. This map shows all the quakes then and now.
