Wellington

Wellington, at the southern tip of the north island, is the capital city of New Zealand separated from the south island by Cook Strait.  The population of the city is about 200 000.  Our ship was moored at a working port where some of the buildings still show damage from the earthquake of 2015.  Free shuttle busses took us to the downtown core. Our guide yesterday recommended visiting Te Papa Tongarewa (The Museum of New Zealand) within walking distance of the tourist information booth downtown.

Entrance to the museum is free but we opted for a guided tour to make the most of our time here.  Our guide Tina was of mixed heritage - half Maori and half "Pakeha" - New Zealander of European origin.  Our tour began at the Waharoa - a carved gateway to a traditional Maori village. It was carved from a slab of totara wood 6.6 m (21 feet) long and 1.2 m (4 feet) wide by Neke Kapua of the Arawa people and his sons for the International Exhibition in Christchurch in 1906-07. The wood was originally dyed with red ochre. The eyes are abalone. TIna told us the creation story of the Maori. In the beginning there was a great void between Earth Mother and Sky Father. They lay together and children were created between still in the dark until a great demi-god cut the ties between earth and sky and the light flowed in.

One area of the museum was devoted to a tribute to the New Zealand soldiers who fought at Gallipoli, a disastrous campaign of World War 1 where 5800 allied soldiers died.

Throughout the museum are displays about the natural environment, geological past, and the  social history of New Zealand.  Te Papa was built as a tribute to biculturalism in the country. We were thankful to Tina for her insight into Maori culture and knowledge of the ties to the peoples of the South Pacific.