The capital city of NZ.
Although it is the capital city, we have had the shortest stay there – only 4 hours or so.
One of the stand up comedians presenting at the ship, said something like: “There are 3 must-see cities in the world: Venice, Paris and… Napier. Because why on earth should we spend the whole day in Napier and when passing by Wellington… continue passing by”. Indeed, what is 4 hours for a big city? Oh well…
We opted for a guided tour and I believe those who created it, really tried to put as much as they could in it…
There are gorgeous botanical gardens, and guess what: we’ve got a half an hour stop at the rose garden only…
Then we had a quick look at the spot where a battle from the movie “Hobbit” was filmed (as I didn’t watch the movie, I have no idea what battle was meant, but the nature is breathtaking there indeed). A piece of story behind it is as follows: the film producer was impressed with the beauty of this place and decided to film a stage there, however he didn’t bother asking a formal permission from the city council. When the filming was in action, the locals discovered that and police, firemen and you-name-it-who-else hit the place. The guy got a fine to pay: 30.000$. But it turned to be a good deal: if he did request a permission, then the delay caused by bureaucracy plus lawyers fees (with finally no guarantee to get the permission) would cost him more. He just paid and was happy to take away his scene filmed 😁
But surprise surprise, we didn’t stop at the famous spot, so I don’t have a single picture except for this one 😂
We stopped a bit further: at mountain Victoria, where a spectacular view over the city is to be enjoyed.
Next and last stop was at “Te Papa” – the national museum.
It’s huge and some expositions require paid tickets, so having in mind the zeitnot, we visited a war memorial dedicated to the only “Great War” New Zealand took part in: the battle of Gallipoli (the same one the Australians commemorate). The below pictures featuring giant realistic statues of war heroes:
Outside the museum, a sound of Scottish bagpipes was heard. I searched the musician…
… And I found him. A strange spot he had chosen though 😉
So, that was it. Short but sweet.
The bus driver sang a goodbye song in Maori for us 😉
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