{"id":4455,"date":"2020-03-18T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-03-18T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/langa.com\/?p=4455"},"modified":"2020-03-14T14:02:13","modified_gmt":"2020-03-14T18:02:13","slug":"new-zealand-wellington","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2020\/03\/18\/new-zealand-wellington\/","title":{"rendered":"New Zealand: Wellington"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

After a very busy week of guided touring (see\u00a0previous New Zealand posts<\/a>), we’d built in a day of slower-paced sightseeing-by-foot in Wellington<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We started the day with a change of hotels, leaving the excellent YHA Wellington, which had been booked for us as part of the organized tour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If I’d known in advance how nice the YHA would be, and that I had the option of staying longer, we would have stayed put. But I didn’t know either of those things — and hadn’t thought to ask (d’oh) — so I’d previously booked a nearby room in a Doubletree for our second night in Wellington. Sunday morning, we walked the short distance to the new hotel. (We had requested, and the hotel arranged for, an early check-in.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leaving our things in the room, we set out to explore a bit of the city. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s on steep ground, rising sharply from the water. Many of the houses have private inclines and tramways to get to their homes; and the city has a funky 100-year old cable-driven incline\/tram (Wellington Cable Car<\/a>) to help connect several elevated neighborhoods with the waterside. The tram operates like a commuter train, with several stops along its long, steeply inclined railway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The tram terminus was practically across the street from our hotel, so we hopped on. Here’s a video I took: After a minute, you can see the view start to open up and — when the view is obstructed by some of the longer tunnels — something unexpected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tram video: https:\/\/photos.app.goo.gl\/G5V1g7SNCHw7JUgW7<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nice views from the top.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Wellington
Wellington Harbor from upper tram terminus<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

We descended by return tram and then walked around the downtown part of the harbor; it’s a working port, but with lots of public art, pop up shops, a farmer’s market, and many places to eat. It’s also windy as hell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We really liked it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pix and a 360 video: https:\/\/photos.app.goo.gl\/xZJbvjFDq82WCPuY9<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We had lunch on an outdoor Crab Shack<\/a> patio by the water, and lingered a bit to enjoy the sights, the sun, the wind, and the local brews. After the previous week, it felt pretty good to sit still for a little while.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But not for long: The next day was the start of a second week of travel — the long ferry across Cook Strait,<\/a> and a series of buses, trains, and planes before we passed through Wellington again on the way back. So we returned to the hotel early to repack and set up for the about-to-begin self-guided\/South Island portion of our trip.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Permalink: https:\/\/langa.com\/?p=4455<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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After a very busy week of guided touring (see\u00a0previous New Zealand posts), we’d built in a day of slower-paced sightseeing-by-foot in Wellington. We started the day with a change of hotels, leaving the excellent YHA Wellington, which had been booked for us as part of the organized tour. If I’d known in advance how nice…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4485,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[21,36,37],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4455","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-misc","category-new-zealand","category-travel"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/wellington-poem.jpg?fit=1414%2C888&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paaiox-19R","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4430,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2020\/03\/17\/new-zealand-taupo-to-wellington\/","url_meta":{"origin":4455,"position":0},"title":"New Zealand: Taupo to Wellington","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2020-03-17","format":false,"excerpt":"Yes, those are hobbit feet --- Bilbo Baggins', in fact. I'll explain in a moment. The final day of the North Island tour was a long ride down to Wellington (see previous New Zealand posts). Here's a very rough approximation of the full week's driving, with an estimated total time-in-transit.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Misc"","block_context":{"text":"Misc","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/misc\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Bilbo Baggins prop feet","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/bilbo-feet.jpg?fit=699%2C937&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/bilbo-feet.jpg?fit=699%2C937&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/bilbo-feet.jpg?fit=699%2C937&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4594,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2020\/03\/25\/new-zealand-christchurch-to-wellington-to-auckland\/","url_meta":{"origin":4455,"position":1},"title":"New Zealand: Christchurch to Wellington to Auckland","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2020-03-25","format":false,"excerpt":"If I were doing it again, I would have added an additional week to the trip. (See\u00a0previous New Zealand posts.)\u00a0But after the TranzAlpine train, due to both the distances and travel options available, it was time to begin the journey back. Points further south in New Zealand would have to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Misc"","block_context":{"text":"Misc","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/misc\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/cc-to-wellington.jpg?fit=420%2C888&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4694,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2020\/04\/04\/new-zealand-index-of-posts\/","url_meta":{"origin":4455,"position":2},"title":"New Zealand: Index of Posts","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2020-04-04","format":false,"excerpt":"Several readers have requested an easier way to find my recent New Zealand posts, so here you go! Day 1: https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2020\/02\/28\/new-zealand-day-1\/Auckland to Coromandel: https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2020\/03\/03\/new-zealand-auckland-to-coromandel\/Te Whanganui-A-Hei\u2026 and Hobbiton https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2020\/03\/04\/new-zealand-te-whanganui-a-hei-and-hobbiton\/Rotorua: https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2020\/03\/05\/new-zealand-rotorua\/Te Puia Maori center: https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2020\/03\/10\/new-zealand-te-puia-maori-center-and-a-night-in-a-rural-maori-family-lodge\/A night in a rural Maori family lodge: https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2020\/03\/11\/new-zealand-a-night-in-a-rural-maori-family-lodge\/On to Lake Taupo:https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2020\/03\/12\/new-zealand-on-to-lake-taupo\/Lake Taupo, cont.: https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2020\/03\/13\/new-zealand-lake-taupo-cont\/Taupo to Wellington: https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2020\/03\/17\/new-zealand-taupo-to-wellington\/Wellington:https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2020\/03\/18\/new-zealand-wellington\/Cook\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Misc"","block_context":{"text":"Misc","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/misc\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/taupo-sunset.jpg?fit=1200%2C568&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/taupo-sunset.jpg?fit=1200%2C568&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/taupo-sunset.jpg?fit=1200%2C568&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/taupo-sunset.jpg?fit=1200%2C568&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/taupo-sunset.jpg?fit=1200%2C568&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4206,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2020\/02\/28\/new-zealand-day-1\/","url_meta":{"origin":4455,"position":3},"title":"New Zealand: Day 1","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2020-02-28","format":false,"excerpt":"It took 2 flights and 22 hours in the air to travel the approximately 10,000 miles (16,000km) from Boston to New Zealand via San Francisco. We left Boston on a Thursday afternoon, and touched down in Auckland around dawn Saturday. The domestic flight, Boston to San Francisco, was on United;\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Misc"","block_context":{"text":"Misc","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/misc\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/naumi-room.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/naumi-room.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/naumi-room.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/naumi-room.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/naumi-room.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4630,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2020\/03\/27\/new-zealand-wrap-up\/","url_meta":{"origin":4455,"position":4},"title":"New Zealand: Wrap Up","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2020-03-27","format":false,"excerpt":"The previous New Zealand posts covered where we went and what we did --- a uniformly good trip throughout. Most of the logistic and mechanical elements of traveling in New Zealand were also positive. As mentioned previously, phone and data service was seamless for us --- no new SIMs, data\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Misc"","block_context":{"text":"Misc","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/misc\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/nz-map.jpg?fit=636%2C833&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/nz-map.jpg?fit=636%2C833&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/nz-map.jpg?fit=636%2C833&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4265,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2020\/03\/05\/new-zealand-rotorua\/","url_meta":{"origin":4455,"position":5},"title":"New Zealand: Rotorua","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2020-03-05","format":false,"excerpt":"Rotorua was to be our base of operations for the day, as members of our group scattered off to different prearranged and ad-hoc activities and locations. 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