My trip to Wellington!

I began the week in Wellington New Zealand, the windiest city in the world.  I didn’t believe that so I Googled it and found that it is true.

From Wikipedia:

Wellington (Māori: Te Whanganui-a-Tara [tɛ ˈfaŋanʉi a taɾa]) is the capital and second most populous urban area of New Zealand, with 418,500 residents.  It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range.  It is the world's southernmost capital of a sovereign state.  Wellington features a temperate maritime climate, and is the world's windiest city by average wind speed.

Sunday afternoon, Sister Bunker, Sister Lucas and I flew to Wellington.  By the time we got to our hotel and settled in, we just had time to find a good Thai restaurant.  They were serving mango sticky rice so I only had a grilled chicken stick (no pic) so I would have room for the sticky rice and mango which was the BEST!!!!

Monday morning we took a 3 ½ hour bus tour of the city.  It was helpful for us to get perspective and to help us decide what things were most important for us to see.

Our bus and tour guide

We first rode the famous cable car and our driver picked us up at the top.  We were shown several residential areas with lovely homes and gardens.

Views from the Cable Car stop

We stopped at the Wellington Museum just long enough to get a taste of what it could offer so I only have one picture as I was taking a missionary/nurse call.

From Wikipedia:

Wellington Museum (formerly the Museum of City & Sea) is a museum on Queens Wharf in Wellington, New Zealand. It occupies the 1892 Bond Store, a historic building on Jervois Quay on the waterfront of Wellington Harbour. It was recently voted as one of the top 50 museums in the world The Times, London. 

The museum has four floors covering the history of Wellington. Celebrating the city’s maritime history, early Māori and European settlement, and the growth of the region, the museum seeks to tell Wellington's stories and how the city has evolved over its 150 years as capital of New Zealand. A giant cinema screen stretching between the ground, first and second floors shows a series of films about Wellington. There are three theatre areas: one tells Māori legends using a 'Peppers Ghost', the other is a memorial to the tragic sinking of the Wahine ferry in Wellington harbour and located on the top floor a Wellington Time Machine. A new exhibition space, The Attic, opened in late 2015 after extensive refurbishment and restoration to the top floor.

Next stop was the Botanical garden.  (I didn’t get many pictures here as I was helping another sick missionary and setting up a doctor’s appointment.)

The lantern in the Peace Garden contains a flame lit from the fires of the Hiroshima bombing,
given by Japan in recognition of New Zealand's work against nuclear weapons.

We were driven through the government centre.  We later walked back to this area to get a better look at the buildings.

The Beehive is the common name for the Executive Wing of the New Zealand Parliament Buildings,
located at the corner of Molesworth Street and Lambton Quay, Wellington. It is so-called because
its shape is reminiscent of that of a traditional woven form of beehive known as a "skep". 

Construction was completed in 1981. The building houses the offices of the prime minister and other ministers. Thus, the name "Beehive" is closely linked with the New Zealand Government.  It is often used as a metonym for the New Zealand leadership at large (in the same sense that the term "White House" refers to the U.S. executive branch).

War Memorial

Other government buildings

Our tour took us passed Old St Paul’s Church.  It is constructed entirely of native timbers
and is one of New Zealand’s greatest heritage places.  We were not able to go inside to get a
view of the colorful stained glass windows as the building was being refurbished.

We viewed the coast line on our way to the top of Mount Victoria.

From the net:

Mount Victoria provides stunning 360 degree views of Wellington City, the harbour and the ocean to the south. Car and bus access is via Alexandra Road, while walking tracks lead from Oriental Parade and Majoribanks Street. 

Legend has it that Wellington harbour, originally a land-locked lake, was home to two large and very active taniwha (sea monsters). One taniwha forged a passage to the open sea creating the entrance to the harbour. The second, named Whataitai, tried a different route, became stranded and died. It is believed that Tangi-te keo (Mt Victoria) was named after the soul of Whataitai.

Tuesday morning we toured Te Papa Museum.

From Wikipedia:

The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is New Zealand's national museum, located in Wellington. Known as Te Papa, or 'Our Place', it opened in 1998 after the merging of the National Museum and the National Art Gallery. More than 1.5 million people visit every year.  

Te Papa Tongarewa translates literally to 'Container of Treasures'. A fuller interpretation is ‘our container of treasured things and people that spring from mother earth here in New Zealand’. Te Papa's philosophy emphasises the living face behind its cultural treasures, many of which retain deep ancestral links to the indigenous Māori people. The Museum recognises the partnership that was created by the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, te Tiriti o Waitangi, in 1840.

We walked through interesting rooms in the museum.

The most touching and memorable site in the museum is the current exhibit:  Gallipoli: The Scale of Our War.

From the website:

Gallipoli: The scale of Our War combines the world of museums with the world-class creative artistry of Weta Workshop to immerse you in the eight-month Gallipoli campaign.

The ground-breaking exhibition tells the story through the eyes and words of eight ordinary New Zealanders who found themselves in extraordinary circumstances. Each is captured frozen in a moment of time on a monumental scale – 2.4 times human size. 

The giant sculptures took a staggering 24,000 hours to create, and countless hours were spent researching their rich histories. 

Cutting-edge technology was also used to create 3-D maps and projections, miniatures, models, dioramas, and a range of interactive experiences that bring New Zealand’s Gallipoli story to life. 

In total, 2,779 Kiwis lost their lives on Gallipoli, and many others were scarred forever. Gallipoli: The scale of Our War takes you to the core of this defining event.

New Year’s Eve we tried to get into a few restaurants but everything in the area where we were staying was booked so we walked around until we spied this delightful fish and chips place.  It was packed and the queue was out the door but we decided if people were willing to stand in a line for their food, it must be good.  By the time we got to the counter to order, the rush was over and we even found some stools to sit on to eat.
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I had monkfish with kumara (like sweet potatoes) fries.

The eatery name is The Mt Vic Chippery.

After dinner we walked around the wharf where there were food trucks and people preparing for the New Year’s Eve festivities.

Spiral chips on a stick

Here is a link to information about the statue and the artist who created it.  It is an icon in Wellington.

The tour bus guide told us that the shoreline of the city changed with a great earthquake.  

From nzgeo.com:

The most notable and lasting effect of the 1855 Wairarapa earthquake was the sudden uplift and tilting of the southwestern part of the North Island, and corresponding subsidence of the coastal area of the Wairau Valley across Cook Strait in Marlborough. 

The morning after the earthquake, Wellingtonians were surprised to find that the shoreline around the harbour had been upheaved by over a metre, so that high water came to only a metre or so of its former height. 

A number of vessels were lying on their sides in shallow water, with some smaller ones stranded high and dry on the beach fronting the town. All around the harbour, thousands of shellfish were exposed. Maori gathered the unexpected harvest for the next two days until putrefaction set in. Great beds of barnacles, oysters, mussels and other seashore organisms were also killed by being uplifted above high-water mark. 

Many of the tidal inlets of the Hutt River were drained by the uplift, and the river, which was previously navigable for about 22 km from the mouth for smaller craft and for nearly 3.2 km up to the Hutt bridge for large cargo boats, became too shallow for shipping.  

If you would like to read about earth quakes in New Zealand you may do so here.

Decorative man hole cover like this all over Wellington

Wednesday early morning, New Year’s Day, we boarded a train for our 11+ hour trip back to Auckland.  Our train, the Northern Explorer, took us through beautiful country.

The Northern Explorer is a long-distance passenger train operated by The Great Journeys of New Zealand division of Kiwirail between Auckland and Wellington in the North Island of New Zealand, along the North Island Main Trunk (NIMT). Three services operate per week in each direction between Auckland's The Strand Station and Wellington railway station.

The train had an open observation car that made it easy to take pictures.

We met Karen, a Chinese lady who lives in Takapuna and owns
a Thai restaurant near our apartment building.

The observation car had no seating but big open windows

We followed the coast line for a way at the beginning of the journey.

Much farmland and open spaces after the coast line.

The train makes 4-5 stops along the way.  One of the stops is at National Park.

From Wikipedia:

National Park is a small town on the North Island Central Plateau in New Zealand. Also known as National Park Village, it is the highest urban township in New Zealand, at 825 metres. Its name derives from its location just outside the boundary of Tongariro National Park, New Zealand's first national park, and its only national park from its creation in 1887 until 1900. The village has great views of Mount Tongariro, Mount Ngauruhoe (Mount Doom in the Lord of the Rings film trilogy), and Mount Ruapehu.

This is Mt Ruapehu, one of the best winter destinations in the world.

From our view on the train, we saw most of these peaks.  It was a clear day. The trees and greenery is unbelievable.

Along the route in the lower country before National Park, we saw a lot of manaku trees.  Manaku honey
is a very big industry here.  When I was in Northland a month ago, the manaku trees were in bloom there. 
The tour guide on our Dune Rider Bus told us that honey bee hives are moved around the country
by trucks and even brought into remote areas by helicopter to be in the areas where the trees are blooming. 
In this picture you can see some hives and blooming trees.

Here is a link if you are interested in reading about this and the natural benefits of manaku honey.

Pohutukawa trees were in full bloom in Wellington.  Everywhere you look you can see the petals, if you call them that, on the ground in cracks and crevices.  Big bundles can be seen blown by the wind.

 I particularly like this statue and his dog walking along the foot path

Before our rail journey, we went to the market to get some treats to eat.  We were able to buy a meal on the train in the café/food car but we wanted to make sure we had what we needed.  I like seeing what different countries and areas stock in the supermarkets.  I saw these items in the market that I thought interesting.  I see the pet foods here in Takapuna stores but not the venison.

Wellington is known for windy, bad weather but for the days we were there, the weather couldn’t have been better.  A fun excursion with good friends to begin the New Year.

The rest of the week has pretty much been back to normal.  There have been primarily two viruses going through the mission:  stomach/ headache and sore throat/cough/body aches.  I’ve dispensed a lot of advice for treating these symptoms along with some advice for a sore neck, bike accident/knee injury, toothache, styes, etc.  I have accompanied a few missionaries to appointments when they needed rides and to make sure there were no insurance hang-ups.  I love being with the missionaries though so this is a benefit of my calling.

I have also been trying to update our list of providers that we see in our mission so that anyone, such as our area medical doctor, can find referrals.

On my walk through the reserve near my flat, I saw a few birds.

Australian magpie

A mama pukeko with 2 chicks.  A little difficult to see in the tall grass but they are there.
I tried to stop and take a video but it scared them and they flushed into the safety of deeper grass.

IT’S CHERRY TIME IN NEW ZEALAND!!!

As an old year comes to an end and a new year begins, I can’t help but express gratitude for all of the blessings I enjoy.  I have a wonderful, supportive family members who care for me from a far.  I have an eternal companion and family.  I have the best friends ever.  I am having a terrific experience serving a mission in New Zealand. I am grateful for the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in these latter days.  I am grateful for my membership in the only true church on earth today.  I am blessed with the gift of the Holy Ghost and the guidance I received.  I have a loving Father in Heaven and a Savior who has made it possible through His Atoning sacrifice for me to repent and be forgiven of mistakes and sins.  I am grateful for the Plan of Happiness.

I love my Savior.  I love you my family and friends.

I ran into Sisters Weeden and Sanchez and made them go to lunch with me.

Sunday afternoon as I sat at my laptop in my office, I noticed a strange color coming in my patio doors.
Here is a news report to explain.