I think we all agreed that the natural history of New Zealand was the best part of the museum. they had the large dioramas of animals (extinct and still around) much like how the British Columbia Museum displays its natural history (Victoria). The Maori cultural part was disappointing but then again we got a good idea on that with our stop at the Bay of Islands.
We still liked the museum and it was so impressive considering its size, the breadth of its collection and that it was free. you got to love countries who set transportation, healthcare and education as priorities for their nations security. though i must say they are obsessed with bio-security as we are with terrorism. (bio-security meaning not letting any foreign foods, dirt, seeds, natural products, etc into the country). I cant tell you how many comfort foods we have lost. all understandable though since their economy (industry and commodity) is super reliant on agriculture.
Next we went pub crawling. it was a little difficult navigating Wellington once past the waterfront. there are a lot of crisscross streets. But people were very helpful. Though imagine three guys trying to navigate an unknown city by foot all refusing to ask for directions. Fortunately we all had our moments of "oh the heck with it!" and asked (we took turns). We found this great irish pub, The Black Harp. It was so authentic down to the tables, booths, bar, decorations, pianos, and woodwork. even the bathrooms. the food was a little odd a mix of pub favorites with a little bit of twist. we ran into one of the passengers we like there and he was eating the daily special which was a pint of guiness and six oysters. we did not have that. what we had was good though.
After the pub crawl and trying a few of the local beers, we went to find an internet kiosk and public phone. again a little difficult but we found one in the local library after asking three people. We camped there for two hours getting much needed calls and online reservations completed (for our continuing trip). Then we headed back to the boat to relax.
The next day was a sea day and the second to last day on the ship. It was full with last minute preparations (like packing) and finalizing things (like bills) and tipping crew members who had been extra wonderful. We exchanged contact info with people (and crew) we made friends with and hung out with and did those last minute things you do on a cruise. it took a whole day (since we were on for 30+ days).
The next day we got off the boat fairly early (disembarkation ticket was of first 6 called). We took a taxi straight to the airport in Aukland. We hung out there having lunch and making calls, and booking more things for the extended trip to Cairns. Once on the flight it was fairly nice. None of us had flown on Quantas and we all really liked it. Very amiable, efficient, clean. It was a three hour flight and we still got dinner. It wasnt great but it was fine and it tided us over until we got to Sydney.
My first impression with Sydney was the shear size of he city it sprawled forever and its harbor area is amazing. but more on that later. They have 4 million people (out of 21 million in the country, living in and around Sydney) and their mass transit system moves people so efficiently. I think their mass transit is the best i have seen so far. it's so impressive in the types, effectiveness, etc. but more on that later.
No comments:
Post a Comment