2 days in Wellington and I made it on TV!

• Slpbls's Profile
• About this blog
• Entry from Wellington

Trip Start Mar 23, 2009 Previous
Entry Trip End Jun 03, 2009 Next
Entry

  Wellington, North Island, New Zealand
Wednesday, April 1, 2009

I finished up Wednesday morning, April 1, in Napier with a jog along the beach and a whopping New Zealand breakfast - did I mention their cappuccino's are out of this world? There's something about their dairy products that make everything (including ice cream) taste better. I then boarded the noon Intercity bus to head to NZ's capital city, Wellington.

I was connected by a mutual friend to an American living in Wellington, Caroline. We had emailed prior to my visit and Caroline welcomed me to join her Wednesday evening for a drink. She moved to Wellington last year from the States and works at one of the main tv networks as a producer for a weekly political commentary show. It turns out the show is taped at a pub across from Parliament - so meeting her for a drink included watching the show live. I arrived in the city at about 5 pm, checked in to the hostel and had a chance to get my bearings. I then made my way to Backbenchers' Pub and to meet Caroline. As soon as we recognized each other from Facebook, we realized that we'd been introduced at another mutual friend's wedding in Jacksonville a couple years ago - that's so Jacksonville! She set me up at table with her friends from the network (who also happened to be producers, reporters and evening news anchors) and got busy her role as producer. The show includes a discussion panel of four New Zealand elected officials, similar to US congressmen, and a host who sets up the debate topics and asks for audience comments/feedback. So during his audience interviews, the camera panned to our table and I made it on tv - you know I loved that! After taping, I visited with Caroline and the rest of the show's team for a couple pints, it was a blast. After a long day of travel, though, we wrapped up and I took a cab back to the YHA and crashed.

Caroline invited me to join her for dinner the next evening and to stay at her place, so Thursday morning I checked out of the hostel, stored my bags, and set out to explore Wellington. As the nation's capital and major port, it is a beautiful waterfront city with hill front suburbia. It was easy to figure out the city blocks and it was another gorgeous day for weather. It has started to get a little chilly, but still sunny high 60's, a great Early Fall day. I walked to a main shopping/dining district on Cuba Street, then grabbed the cable car for a trek around the Botanical Gardens. I roamed over to the government buildings, including Parliament and the notorious "Beehive" building. It is government building that was supposed to be an architectural landmark, but most of Wellington and NZ considers it an eyesore - oops!

I wrapped up my walking tour of Wellington with a stroll along the harbor and then a couple hours in the national museum, Te Papa. It is a gorgeous - and free! - museum with even more about Maori history. I can't get enough about the native people of New Zealand. I think it's fascinating that we don't hear or learn more about Maori culture from the States. My theory is that the cities we mostly hear about of New Zealand are Auckland, Christchurch, Wellington, Queenstown - very English. But most of the other cities, towns, landmarks, streets - you name it - are Maori names. I've really enjoyed learning more about their culture, which is so prevalent in New Zealand today.

After feeling sufficient cultural, I worked my way to Caroline's apartment and to kill a few of the weaker brain cells with some local Savignon Blanc. Caroline has a great place a few blocks from Parliament and the city hub, and we walked to a Thai restaurant to join her friends for dinner. It was great to have an evening at a friend's house to shower, do laundry and regroup with an American accent! Her friends were really welcoming and fun as well, so it was a great finish to the visit.

When I had arrived at the Wellington YHA on Wednesday, I decided then to plan and book the rest of my time in New Zealand, since I knew I would be flying to Australia on 4/11. Time was flying by! I arranged to fly out of Wellington on Friday morning, 4/3, for Christchurch and start my South Island itinerary. Since the flight was at 8:15, Caroline and I only mildly tore up the pub's of Wellington after dinner, and we were back at her place early enough for a good night's sleep.

Till next time, with news from Christchurch and South Island!
Stephanie

Post your own travel photos for friends and family Pictures

Taping the show	Airing live	Interviewing the audience - from our table!	Wellington from above
Trail from Botanical Gardens	Parliment	Wellington Harbor

Slideshow Print this entry Share

Previous Entry Next Entry