Day 21 Dunedin to Wellington
Another early start as I had to go to Dunedin airport to
catch my flight to Wellington, the middle earth capital. I knew the ‘international’
airport was actually a fair distance outside of the city and I didn’t want to
be late to catch my plane. The shuttle bus does arrive around the time you ask
then too and have never been a problem at all. They maybe a touch expensive for
one person, but they are very reliable. They are specifically for the airports
I think as they are always waiting there and will pick you up from anywhere. I
book them online to save the hassle of handing money over, one less thing I
have to worry about on m epic trek across New Zealand. I had plenty of time by
the time I arrived and then I found out the weight of my bag when I was at the
airport. It was around 20 kgs and I think I better post some things home soon
as it might be a bit heavy to carry. I think it was 13kg before I left or near
abouts.
The airport was small and I couldn’t find any security at
gate number 8. I didn’t need to rush as I never had any metal detectors to walk
through. It was like Armidale airport, but I think these guys were actually
international too. Thats what it did say and there was an airbridge thing for
the bigger planes. I didn’t have one as all I had to do was walk like everyone
else into the weather, which was nice and sunny for some reason. The plane was
late around 20 mins late to be exact and they did tell us it was some technical
difficulty. I didn’t want to hear that one, but was happy to be on a twin prop
plane that didn’t make as much noise as the Qantas ones that I have caught to
and from Armidale. I did have the window seat and I was happy. I did finish my
book that I am reading, Penguin book to New Zealand history. My bag was up in
the hatch and I couldn’t get it as the plane was full as well as no room at my
feet. The pilot came across to say we were behind 6 other planes landing in
Wellington. We did donuts in the air and
then we did land at the airport that was decked out with Middle earth stuff. A
Gollum where people had meals and the baggage carrousel was hobbit holes with a
message from air NZ that was pretty funny. I did realise why I didn’t like Wellington
airport from the first time I was there as it wasn’t straight forward with
checkin, this time the first lot of mens loos were closed. We didn’t have an
airbridge in Wellington this time, but it was windy.
I think the three coffees were making me highly strung on
the shuttle bus to drop me off at the hostel. We were late in and I wanted to
get all my work done before I have free time after the Parliament house tour
and Archives. I couldn’t get a key, but was able to check in at the hostel,
which is around the corner from everything. The Downtown hostel was the
Waterloo and during the Queen’s visit she stayed in the building. I did have to
wait around the parliament buildings before I could do the tour, so I had a
quick bite to eat and then came back. The tour of the parliament buildings was
interesting and took you through to the basement to show off the earthquake
measures, the guide pointed out that the beehive had a bunker / war room in
case of nuclear attack and other, The higher you went the more important you
were, the government system is based on the German one with the MMP.
You can protest on parliament grounds, but have to make an
appointment, which is pretty funny. The original speakers in Westminster couldn’t
leave their seat, so had to relieve themselves and eat there, they did have
hangers for a curtain. The current one is allowed to if he has a deputy. The
longest a politician has spoken is around 8 hours, but they are now timed to
around 10 mins. The speaker has the power to turf people out for personal
attacks, swearing but sledging is allowed. One of the ladies was talking once
and she did say something about being proud of two cities as she was from one
and the other had family. She thought she had one foot in Christchurch and the
other in Auckland. Someone piped up asking if that was wy Wellington was always
wet and windy. Bazinga! He got booted out though. You are allowed back in
eventually. The library has 30 rows of
shelving apparently and you are allowed to use it, but you have to make an
appointment or use the Turnbull library across the road. We did visit the parliamentary
floor and several people were told to get out of the seats as you are not
allowed to sit on them. We should have been told before that, but nearly
everything was roped off except for the back ones.
After the tour finished, I headed to the archives for some
quick research with the last of the records I had ordered that was about the
Palmerston North Fire board minutes. Lets say the writing was not very easy to
read in some parts and I don’t think my big camera was up for the job. My small
one seems to take perfect pictures from the last time I used it for that
purpose. It could have been because of the freehand writing was so brain
shattering. I did try to read most of it, but at least then came along the typed
out pages that helped heaps. I did get what I wanted and then headed back to
the hostel to claim my bed and have a shower before running away before dark. I
had a quick dinner at the hostel since they have meals there and off I went
again like a man on a mission.
I was heading for the cemetery again as someone asked me to
take a pic of something although they were joking, but I wanted to and had the
time to do that. I did find some masons and thought that I should become one
since everyone else seems to be one and are kind of popular in New Zealand. I
did pass the Royal mint museum that I will have to visit one day. I should
write up a list or something or write down the history type tours to try out on
the cities I visit. One thing I was after was at the Embassy theatre that had
Gandalf placed in front. It looked better when he was knocking on a hobbits
door. The grass around the door did move in the wind too, which was pretty cool.
The sun was starting to set and I could feel it starting to cool down as I
headed towards home. New Zealand post has a huge hobbit stamp and even the 12
dwarves walking way up top of the building too. I knew I had to get back to the
hostel and sort out my bag for the morning, where I will get the trans scenic
train to Auckland and I will have to walk at least one km or a bit more to
where I am staying. The train is a day trip and we will see how that goes.
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