A Tale of Two Cities

 And the two cities are Timaru and Wellington.

Yesterday, Wednesday, we were in Timaru.  It is by far the smaller of the two cities.  Upon leaving the ship, our plan was to cross the tracks:

and walk to the Aigantighe (pronounced egg-and-tie) Art Gallery.  After strolling along the main street of town and passing Caroline Bay, we arrived.

The gallery is comprised of 2 buildings - the old original building and a newer wing.  Unfortunately the older building is closed as they make it earthquake safe. Yes, they have earthquakes here!  The big one in Christchurch led them to evaluate the safety of many buildings.  There was however a nice sculpture garden and a brilliant exhibition of the works of Rita Angus.

Our next objective was to walk all the way across town to the Botanic Garden.  On the way, we did a wander through Caroline Bay and checked out the aviary.

The Botanic Garden was a bit of a disappointment - more of a park than a garden, at least the parts we walked through.

We then headed back into town for our last stop - the Te Ana Maori Rock Art Centre.  Some of you may know that I was a bit of a Native American rock art devotee when we lived in Arizona which made this a worthwhile stop.  It was a good introduction to what seems to be a concerted effort to honor the Maori past and culture which we really saw today in Wellington.  More on that later.

That concluded our day in Timaru - a worthwhile port if not the best one we have visited on this cruise.

Today, it was the big city of Wellington, the capital of Aotearoa New Zealand.  Aotearoa - what's that?  It's the current Maori-language name for New Zealand.  It translates as "land of the long white cloud".  The use of Aotearoa seems to be gaining wide use and there is a movement to officially change the name of New Zealand to Aotearoa.  

Our first stop was at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.  It is an incredible museum with exhibits covering nature, art, Aotearoa New Zealand history (including the Treaty of Waitangi) and Maori history and culture.  We spent almost 3 hours exploring it.

It was then time for lunch.  I had read about a couple of places for fish and chips and we wound up at one, the Wellington Seamarket, which turned into a good choice, not only for the good fish and chips but also for the warm and fun interactions we had with the owner and the folks who worked there.

Our next goal - the Wellington Botanic Garden.  We opted for the recommended routing - ride the cable car up and walk back down.  It is a really good botanic garden, far better than in Timaru.

The walk down passed through the Bolton Street Cemetery which included graves for the 1800's and a Jewish section.

As we walked to the shuttle bus stop we passed the Beehive, the Parliament building where, 30+ years ago we were given a personal tour by an MP, but that's another story.

After our terrific day in Wellington, we came away with the feeling that the Maori in Aotearoa New Zealand (whether it's their history, their culture, or their participation in society and the economy) are much more integrated than the Aboriginal people of Australia.  I don't know if we're right, but it is definitely the sense that we got.  And if I had a vote, I would vote for changing the name to Aotearoa!

Now for today's truism, which is something that people such as the Maori and Native Americans understood and that was destroyed by colonialism: "THE LAND BELONGS TO NO ONE"

Peace and blessings,

Linda and Larry