Wellington, 2023: Evans Bay And Environs

We did a couple walks on Evans Bay while staying at the Evans Bay Marina...

Looking across the bay toward Miramar and famous windy Welly
sign

Never very far from art deco

One of the city's many private funiculars

Another

Built right into the hill

Remains of the Evans Bay Patent Slip; whereby
a ship could be pulled out of the water on a rail
to undergo repairs

The Evans Bay Marina campground was right under the Zephrometer,
one of several public mobile wind-related sculptures in the area; I've
posted pix of the Zephrometer in 2018 and possibly before

Other such sculptures

Wind is very big here

Looking back from Miramar to the marina

Us, there

It was February 12th, and the traffic coming into Wellington's
airport had already increased markedly...flights cancelled...getting
planes out of Auckland and other northern parts of the North
Island in advance of cyclone Gabrielle's hitting...

We also took our customary drive around the peninsula, especially

to see the Cook Strait coast in advance of the storm...and whether

the ferries were still running...(ominous foreshadowing music)

Wellington, 2023: Te Papa Tongarewa

Te Papa Tongaewa is the national museum. In the five years since our last visit a good bit had changed or been updated. As usual, we spent most of our day there in natural history and then the human presence on the islands. Great museum, lots of high-tech and hands-on, no holds-barred on even the controversial subjects. Do click to enlarge and read the interesting descriptions and comments.

Extinct creatures, including the moa, a flightless
bird that stood as high as 3.5 meters; wiped out
centuries before Europeans arrived

Assorted varieties of kiwi

Half of New Zealand's wildlife is found nowhere else

Examples...

Must read..."easy clean-up" is the best part

De-forestation...pre-Maori, pre-European, now...obviously the
Maori were pretty good at it too

Only in New Zealand...

Original and current Maori land holdings

Big exhibit on the Waitangi Treaty

Among its disputed issues

Moving right along, Vicki examines a waka, a war canoe, this
one from the earlier 19th century

Beautiful carving and inlay all over

From a gathering of war canoes and replicas
assembled in Wellington a few years back

Among the things that fascinate me are explorations
of Polynesians over the millennia, their craft, and, above,
their navigational methods on this greatest of oceans 

Models of sea-going craft

Model of auxiliary building...no pix of the marae 

Storage

Concerning the representation of a meeting house

Land of the long white cloud

Polynesian explorations

Still hoping to find one of these ceremonial jade axes, whether in
New Zealand or Brittany...

Wellington, 2023: Harbor Scenes

From our campsite near the national museum, Te Papa Tongarewa, we walked the harbor waterfront both directions on different days, toward the Bluebridge ferry terminal one way and then beyond Oriental Bay the other way. It's a lively and scenic area, day and night.

Initially we thought these were tourists gathering for boat rides...

But no, it's local civic dragon boat practice

The waterfront is a a place of memorials

Looking toward the Bluebridge ferry terminal and beyond it the
container city; sandwiched in between is the cruise ship terminal

Looking back across the harbor toward Te Papa and then Oriental
Bay

Huge climbing gym near the former customs house

The Deloitte team going for it

Sculpture commemorating the discoverers

Thus

Back to Te Papa

Interesting artsy house in Oriental Bay

Deco echo and more interesting stuff on the hill above

And looking back to Te Papa and the city from Oriental Bay