But it was a pleasant drive, with snow-covered mountains and rolling countryside most of the way. When we arrived in the capital city mid-afternoon, were told by our B&B host that the national museum was open until 9 and there was free admission on Thursday. Of course, this opportunity was too good to pass up, so we immediately walked down to the 6-story, $300 million museum and spent three hours wandering through exhibits that would have taken days to thoroughly inspect. There was the expected geologic and human histories of the country, told with professionally prepared panels, artifacts, and videos. But there were also sections on other subjects, such as the history of games and the story of the filming of the Lord of the Rings trilogy here. That latter subject still thrills many of the citizens, as is manifest by the guided tours and information signs available anywhere a scene from the movies was filmed. We even encountered some of the monsters from the films right there in the museum:
Inside the National Museum
Next morning, we headed over to the National Botanic Gardens, which we reached by riding up on a funicular from the downtown business district. Funicular is a big word we learned in the Blue Mountains of Australia, where they have the steepest one in the world. Also the fastest and most dangerous. But we digress. We spent hours walking through the gardens, which were created in 1868 as part of an effort to determine the suitability of various plants and trees from other parts of the world to grow here. Some succeeded wildly, as shown by the massive size of some of the trees. One of the largest pines from America was said to be good for nothing but firewood by the curator; but 40 years later the wood was being used for most of the construction in New Zealand. The species and colors of the flowers were fascinating.
Wellington from the funicular
Flowers in the Botanic Gardens
In the afternoon, we visited the national parliamentary building, and the administrative offices next door, which is known as the beehive--perhaps in the hope that a great deal of productive activity goes on inside, but more likely because of its shape. We were reminded of the important fact that Wellington is the southernmost national capitol on Earth.
The Beehive and Parliament
It was a Friday so, taking a cue from our own politicians in Washington, Parliament as not in session. They only meet three days a week, like our elected officials, but apparently actually get some things done. Like raising the GST (a value added tax) from 10% to 15% recently. Come to think of it, maybe not getting anything done is not so bad, after all.
There are a certain number of seats guaranteed to the Maori population, and based on this morning's paper, some of the Maori are getting back at their old conquerors. One of the members was reported as spending $500.00 per day last year on limousines for his transportation. And he was only in second place when it came to extravagant spending by members of Parliament. Anyway, we had a great and informative tour of the place, after which Tricia noticed the gift shop personnel have a great sense of humor. She even made a photo of one of the books:
Parliamentary Bookstore book cover
I sneaked a peak and can give you a couple of quotes the author attributed to Americans. From the notoriously corrupt Louisiana Governor Earl Long: "The voting machines won't hold me up. If I have the right commissioners, I can make those machines play 'Home Sweet Home'". And from H. L. Mencken: "Under democracy one party always devotes its energies to trying to prove that the other party is unfit to rule--and both commonly succeed and are right."
But enough of all that. You have been waiting patiently to hear about government in New Zealand, so here it is. Queen
Elizabeth II is officially Queen of New Zealand. She is represented by her appointed Governor General, who ratifies all laws put before him or her by
the parliament. Technically, they say he could refuse to sign. But in fact, that never happens.
New Zealand has two
national Anthems God Save the Queen (the English National Anthem)
and God Defend New Zealand. Only two other two countries have two
anthems. Can you name them? (Hint: one of them is not North Korea.)
New Zealand was the first major nation to have universal suffrage. In 1893 it became legal for all male and female citizens of New Zealand to vote, giving rise to the claim that this country was the first true democracy on the planet
This is a fairly liberal nation with homosexual marriage (Civil Union), driving at age 15, sex at age 16, drinking at 18 (younger if mom or dad is with you in a restaurant), prostitution, soliciting, and brothel keeping all legal. There are no nuclear power stations in New
Zealand, nor are nuclear weapons allowed in her waters or on her land. There is no equivalent of Fox News here; MSNBC would be quite at home if it could speak the language.
New Zealand was once part of
New South Wales,which later included Australia. When Australia federated in 1901,
New Zealand was offered the opportunity to be one of its states. New Zealand refused and
is its own country with no ties (other than economic and commonwealth) to
Australia.
Thinking about all these things caused us to depart and tour part of the coast in the area, looking for decent beaches. At our last stop, we braved the wind to walk briefly along a long dirt sand beach and watch the swimmers in wet suits before walking across to a soda shop. There one of us had a small cone of maple sweetbread ice cream. You would have thought you were in New England licking up some of the freshly made maple syrup, if only you could have had a taste. The other member of the group was not impressed, and forced the first member to pose in front of a sign in town:
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Charlie & Tricia
©2013
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