| Wellington's not
one of the world's great tourist attractions but it is pleasant, at least
if the weather holds out. With its hilly geography and beautiful
harbour there are some first class views. One way to see them
is to take the cablecar, which has its lowest station in Lambton Quay,
the main shopping street, and terminates up at the Botanic Gardens, which
has 26 hectares of native bush and formal gardens including the Lady Norwood
Rose Garden, which has over a 100 rose varieties. The cable
car isn't just a tourist attraction, it's a practical means of transport
for local residents and for students going to Victoria College, the university
at the top of the hill. It leaves every 10 minutes from 7AM
to 10PM on weekdays, 9AM to 10PM on weekends. |
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This charming statue
is close to the cable car terminal in Lambton Quay. I don't
know if it's meant to represent anyone in particular, but it's certainly
delightful. |
| These are New Zealand's
parliament buildings. The circular building is called The Beehive
because of its shape, and it's probably the most well known building in
the entire country. The trees you can see in front of
the old parliament buildings are native to New Zealand, they're commonly
called cabbage trees because they were used as cabbage substitutes by early
settlers. Unfortunately, there's a disease wiping them out
all around the country, just like elms were wiped out by Dutch Elm disease,
so see them while they last! The old government buildings are
in the near proximity, the second largest wooden building in the world
after the Daibutsu-den
in Japan. I don't have a photograph of it, because like most
New Zealanders I wasn't aware of this claim to fame. |
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| This statue is on
the parliament grounds, but its significance is a total mystery to me.
I didn't even notice that the horse has wings on its front legs until I
scanned this photo! |
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Ah - everything
becomes much clearer when looked at from a different angle.
The horseman is obviously pointing to the office where he used to work
before he took to riding his horse naked up and down the corridors and
elevators.
This can only mean
that the statue is a warning to others who might think of doing the same
thing. |
| Talking about people
pointing to offices where they used to work, here's a statue of Richard
"King Dick" Seddon, the colourful and powerful prime minister at the start
of the 20th century. Like most New Zealanders, I'm almost entirely
ignorant of the country's history, so I don't know too much more about
him. I guess politicians encourage this sort of ignorance,
it makes the masses so much easier to hoodwink.
Thankfully, this
is one of the very few statues of politicians in the country, directly
outside the Beehive. |
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This sign just about
sums up the climate of Wellington. It was a permanent fixture
on a shop door while I was living nearby. |
| If you've got wind
then you might as well turn it to your advantage (no jokes, please!).
This wind turbine
is on Brooklyn Hill and is visible from many parts of the city.
It's operated by the Electricity Corporation of New Zealand (ECNZ) as something
of a lip service towards non-polluting and non-destructive renewable energy.
It stands up here all on its own, making enough electricity to boil a few
cups of tea, and not much of a rival to wind farms like the one at Altamont
Pass in California, which has seven thousand turbines operating at once. |
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Which just goes
to show that every cloud has a silver lining, there's a bun in every oven
and all's well that ends well! |
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