Cable Car Ride And Wellington Botanical Garden

In 2014, we took the cable car up the prominent hill overlooking Welly, did the cable car museum (featuring a video on Welly's more than 400 private cable cars and funiculars; it's a hilly place), the astronomical observatory ("southern skies"), and intended to do the botanical garden, which comprises the walk down the hill. Rain interfered with the latter plan, however, and we took the cable car back down to the CBD. This time it was a beautiful, sunny, and not even very windy day, and so after decamping Brendan's driveway holiday park, we first took a drive around the Miramar peninsula, located and settled in at the Evans Bay Parade marina (freedom camping, close in), and then took the bus into the centre ville.

On the peninsula, a heavily-laden container ship plies the narrow
channel

Really narrow

Downtown; Welly is confronting a real crisis of growth vs. historic
preservation; here, a pop-up out of an old facade

It was time for showers, and Wellington, like most of New Zealand,
obliged; clean and free, too

In the cable car museum; these are outside seat on the old cable
car; note their angle and the leather straps you can hold on to

Top of the line, with a bit of the harbor and city in view

Saturday, and of course there's a cricket match under way

Us, there

Big garden, emphasizing Australasian, but not without its fair
share of European and North American imports

My favorite exotic tree, the Monkey Puzzle

Moreton Bay Pine

Important explanation

Monterey Bay Pines

Japanese Maple

Some redwoods in the picture somewhere

Silver Fern

Love the weird natives

In the rose garden, a bit past prime, but still impressive