Wellington Oct 30

We met Des and the bus at about 8:30 in the morning and set out for our day touring Wellington. Our tour last week was the Lord of the Rings tour. This tour was different. The cold wind and rain were similar, though.

After a quick trip through town we stopped to ride the tram up to the Botanical Gardens. We really didn't have time enough to see the gardens because they cover a large area on a hillside overlooking the city. In the 30 minutes or so there, we walked the short paths near the top to view the overlooks of the city. I think the blooming season was past. We didn't see the gorgeous azaleas blooming like we did last time.

Our next stop was at a Maori village. The Maori were the first people to reach New Zealand only about 1,000 years ago. Their legends say they came from Hawaii; the anthropologists say they maybe came from Taiwan or southeast Asia. They are not related to Australian aborigines. In appearance, they seem “Mediterranean” to me, southern Italian perhaps. The Maori of the far south are taller, have lighter skin, hair tending to reddish, and green eyes, so our guide said.

Maori are completely integrated into the culture and are about 15% of the population. Intermarriage has always been accepted. Amoung those married to Maoris are Scots, English, Chinese, and Kiwis.

This village was a relatively modern creation, not a history lesson but a look at the way the Maori live today. During WWII, this parcel of Maori land was confiscated for a military base. Sometime after the war, the Maori successfully appealed for the return of some of the property. They were given 24 base houses and a little bit of land. From this they have made a village with a Maorae (a traditional style meeting house), a cultural center with an art school where they preserve the art of carving and the old ways and an FM radio station broadcasting partly in Maori language. They were especially proud of the canoes that were finished just last year and the new meeting hall (soon to be museum) that was also very new.

The village and the visit were nice and set the mood for lunch which was a hangi lunch. Hangi is the name for pit barbecue here. They dig a pit, fill it with wood, put river stones on the wood and set it on fire. About 3 hours later, the wood has finished burning and the very hot stones are on the bottom of the pit. The food was wrapped, tinfoil in these modern times, and covered with the earth dug out of the pit. It is left for a few hours and is then ready to dig up, unwrap, and eat. Hangi was chicken and pork cooked with potatoes, squash and cabbage. The food had a very smokey flavor due to the pit cooking. We were given a choice to have the hangi or order from the menu. Of course we had to try the hangi. Those who opted to order from the menu said the food was delicious but it was 45 minutes before their food arrived. It put us behind on the tour and everybody became somewhat frustrated.

The rest of the day was spent at the Te Papa Museum. It was a huge place. There was no way to see it all in an hour and a half. We skimmed the surface.

Back in our room at 9:00 pm. All aboard was at 9:30. We were back in plenty of time. I was tired and after reading email went to bed. Jack stayed up for the sail away.