We got there and were told they were still waiting on a part but that the van should be ready to go in about an hour. Woo! So we walked a few blocks away and found a place selling bacon and egg biscuits and coffee. After our quick breakfast we got back to the garage to find...our van was in front of the garage and ready! They had JUST finished. Huzzah!
We got in, made sure our stuff was secure, and headed back on the road to Wellington!
The weather today wasn't all that wonderful. In fact, it was SUPER windy when we were walking around town and then even when we got in the car - you could feel the whole van pulling back and forth as we drove! Not exactly our favorite. Also, a lot of the beautiful landscapes we've come to love so much in the past few days were obscured by fog and clouds as it started to rain in the early afternoon. The weather continued in a grey haze for the two hour drive to Wellington.
We pulled in and decided the first thing was to find our camp site for the night. We went to the marina were we thought we'd be staying to check it out and it actually looked pretty nice - right on the harbor, clean bathrooms - win! Time to check out the city!
We drove from the carpark to the Te Papa Museum - the national museum of New Zealand. The museum is pretty awesome, hosting a TON of different long-term exhibits among its 6 levels, in addition to changing exhibits (right now there is an exhibit on DreamWorks animation - a bit too expensive for us, but looked like fun for the kiddos :-p). Included among the permanent exhibits is a section on the animals of New Zealand. There is a huge room FILLED with bones of sea animals - sea lions, dolphins, and HUGE whales. The bones of a "non-mature" whale hang from the ceiling - they are about 25 meters long! Another AMAZING thing we got to see was the ONLY colossal squid on exhibit anywhere in the world!
The thing is HUGE. It is a female discovered in 2007 off the cost of Antarctica by a fishing boat. The boat brought in the squid and were able to get it all the way to the scientific research center at the Te Papa (who then housed it, studied it, etc. etc) before preserving it in a long see-through tube to be enjoyed by visitors to the museum!
The squid itself is about 7 meters long. It has the largest eye of any animal in the world, coming it at the size of about a SOCCER BALL!!! The squid also has TERRIFYING features such as poisonous suckers and HOOKS on its tentacles that can turn 360 degrees to cut into its prey!! NOT something I'd want to encounter in the deep blue sea!!!!! Overall VERY cool to see (if not nightmare-inducing... :-p).
Other major exhibits in the museum included immigration to the country, changes to the landscape and culture in the last 200 years, and a ton of information and artifacts about Maori culture.
A (very long) Maori canoe
Maori are the indigenous tribes of NZ. At one point there were about 10,000 Maori on the island, with their land basically spanning the whole country. A few years ago, a count put the total population of ethnic Maori at about 100 people. Crazy. Some of the dwindling numbers have to do with feuds with Europeans when they came over about 200 years ago. Another contributing factor is intermarriage of Maori with people of other ethnic backgrounds. The museum had almost an entire level dedicated to Maori culture, including their interactions with Europeans, and life-size models of their homes and meeting spaces. There was also a whole section dedicated to The Treaty of Waitangi, which effectively placed Maori under British rule, seen here:
A few of the temporary exhibits showed stories of recent refugees to the country, a movie dedicated to the 100th anniversary of WWI, and a two-level exhibit on New Zealand photographers (which I spent quite a bit of time enjoying!)
The museum is also fantastic for families in that every level has a hands-on discovery center dedicated to the exhibits on that floor. From learning about how waste decomposes..
To being able to climb into a LIFE-SIZE heart of a blue whale...
To learning how to weave a basket like Maoris, there's TONS of stuff for kids to explore and discover (and also adults who are young at heart...like two kids I know...) :-D.
We stayed at the museum exploring until closing time at 6, before heading back to the car park for the night. When we arrived, we cooked a delicious chick pea salad for dinner (VERY SPECIAL THANKS TO JENNIFER PARASZCZUK FOR THIS RECIPE!!!) which was SUPER easy to make in our confined camper van and also delicious!! After dinner we played a few rounds of cards... during which I absolutely ANNIHILATED Jon. Four times. Because he wouldn't give up. For those of you who have seen us play cards - I know this sounds ridiculous (mostly because I'm an OK card player, not amazing). But it happened. Which led to a lot of wine drinking... on both our ends... to deal with the card playing lol.
Alright - it's about 10 - early start tomorrow to explore more of "Windy Welly!"
Jess' highlight of the day: finally getting to Wellington and exploring the Te Papa
Jon's highlight of the day: the Te Papa
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