Cuba Street (one of the most prominent streets in Wellington)
Succulent Garden (in Wellington Botanical Gardens)
The Parliament House (contains the the debating chamber, speaker's office, etc.)
The Beehive (contains the PM's office and other offices)
View from the Botanical Gardens entranceWellington is a really beautiful city that seems bigger than it is- and has really nice architecture and a vibrant arts scene. It's very hilly though- and they don't call it windy Wellington for nothing. There is lots of free stuff to do- namely the Botanical gardens, the Museum of New Zealand, and the Parliament. They were all excellent. The Botanical gardens was different than the one in Christchurch- it's on a hill- and has quite different plant species. At the parliament, we had a free tour- which included entry into the House of Commons. It was really neat to see the places in the buildings that we always see on the news. Their political system is very similar to ours (since they too are part of the Commonwealth), but there are few differences. They have no senate anymore. Also, in 1996 they had a referendum and now they have "proportional representation" rather than the "first past the post" system (electing MP's in constituencies) that we still have. The new system (modelled after the German political system) allows for a much more diverse parliament. Hopefully someday Canada will do the same.
Wellington looks like a beautiful city. Too bad we won't have time to check it out when we are there....too many outdoor adventures planned. If it wasn't so expensive to fly there I'd say I'll go again while you guys are still there, but unfortunatle flying to the other side of the planet isn't cheap. You're lucky to live in such a nice place for awhile and have enough time to explore all the countries treasures.
ReplyDeleteP.S. Not to be like Aunt Nellie or anything, but I can visibly see in these pictures that you guys both lost weight, especially Brad. Looking good! Not like you didn't always look good though :)
ReplyDeleteYep, in particular, cutting potato chips and white bread out of your diet helps a lot. Don't worry, the south island has more than enough adventure for you!
ReplyDeleteI forgot to mention the Butter Chicken. Yes, we did gorge on Indian food in Wellington (cause that's what you do on vacation). The "best butter chicken in Wellington" (which has won several awards) was the worst butter chicken we've ever had! It tasted really sweet! Not what we'd expect. Obviously the judge was a Kiwi. It seems they like everything to be sweet. And if you want any spiciness at all to your food, you better ask for it extra hot!
ReplyDeleteCrazy how our taste buds develop accoring to what we are exposed to. I guess I would've hated the sweet butter chicken too, sounds grosse. It's suppose to be buttery, creamy and spicy, but not sweet.
ReplyDeletelOOKING GREATTTTT!!!! Cath & Brad!!!!
ReplyDeleteI guess we should all do south beach diet!!!! I know it works great for me.
Hope to see more pics ---the places you are seeing are wonderful!!!