Day 10 - Saturday - Wellington

Forgive the formatting. Working on the iPad is difficult. 

Saturday morning arrived to find us steaming toward Wellington, the Capital City of New Zealand. It was yet another sunny, warm (in the 70s) day. The city is otherwise known affectionately, or maybe not so much so, as "Windy Wellington."   I was to get to experience that wind as I strolled around.  

The ship arrived at the relatively late hour of 10:00 am.  We disembarked the ship for the shuttle ride into the downtown CBD.  Barbara had arranged to meet up with her daughter, who lives in Wellington, for the day, and I was on my own. While we waited for Janice to arrive downtown, we ducked into an "All New Zealand" shop to browse and as it turned out, spend money on Christmas gifts. 

Janice arrived and they were off to do their thing and I strolled down Lambton Quay, the main drag. I noticed a sign that said, "Parliament - 5 minutes," and headed that way.  After the aforesaid 5 minutes, I arrived at the Parliament complex, a relatively small area of interconnected buildings and well maintained grounds.

I sat on a bench and decided to try for a WiFi signal. Viola!!!  "Free Parliament Guest" network available.  I signed on and gave Erika a call on Facebook Messenger. No answer, but then as I started to stroll, she called me back and we had a good chat.  After that, I wandered up to the visitors area and went in, hoping to find a comfortable area out of the wind where I could use the government's WiFi to check e-mail and perhaps update this blog. I was screened by three  guards (this being a Saturday, mind you) who ran my backpack through a metal detector.  

The lady guard noticed my money clip that had a number of crisp NZ dollars as well as some wrinkled and folded US dollars. She commented that when she visited Vietnam, the stores would take US currency only if it was pristine and unwrinkled. She said the street merchants gladly took her wrinkled dollars, but charged a usurious exchange rate for the tainted currency.  We had a good chat and I proceeded to the visitors desk.

At the visitors desk I learned I could take a one hour tour of the Parliament, which I thought was a good way to spend my time in Wellington. The tour was led by a delightful Kiwi named Megan, who ended each section of her talk with a "now then, are there any questions," while waving her hands back and forth in front of her with a smooth, slow motion, kind of like how Hawaiian Hula dancers gesture. 

We visit d the main house chamber, which is much, much feared to as the Suicide Session. smaller than the US House of Representatives chamber. There are something like 120 Representatives in the House. The Senate chamber is empty. We visited it and were told by Megan that the Senate was largely superfluous and was voted out of existence in 1950 or so.  That last Senate session is referred to as the suicide session. 

We got to visit a committee hearing room as well as the library, which is nicely appointed.  The tour ended in the basement where we were shown how the entire building has been retrofitted to survive an 8.5 magnitude earthquake.  All quite interesting. 

After my tour, I took advantage to the government's free WiFi to update the blog, after which I continued to the Wellington library to finish with my digital duties.  after that it was 3:00 pm and time to wander down to the waterfront.  

I located One Red Dog, where I was meeting Barbara for dinner for dinner, and went next door to a cafe for a bit   There I had a couple Moa beers, a lager and an IPA.  Both quire good.  New Zealand IPAs are not nearly as hoppy as their American counterparts. They also served up a good hummus plate which I quite enjoyed. 

While at the cafe, I overheard the young bartender speaking with two women nearby. He clearly was American.  This was confirmed when he said he came from a small town in Eastern Washington.  I butted in and said I'd overheard, and just where is he from?  Colfax, WA.  As it turned out, Skyler Simonson had attended theEnology program in Walla Walla, graduating in 2015. He's been traveling and hopes to get a temporary job with a winery.   Small world, eh?

Don't leave - more to come. Dinner at the Red Dog Cafe and a stroll along the Strand.