After an excellent night’s sleep, we were up at eight o’clock as usual, and we went straight to our window to see what the weather was like. The Edge was making her way slowly into the port of New Zealand’s capital city, Wellington, and we were excited to be here. Our organised excursion was not until 1.45 this afternoon, so it gave us the morning to explore at our leisure. 😊
After a good breakfast in the Ocean View as usual, we went outside onto the brightly sunlit decks and looked around. It was clearly a very busy port, dealing with cargo vessels as well as cruise ships. To our left we could see a massive sports stadium, the Sky Stadium, and to our right we could see many dwellings perched on the hillside overlooking the harbour. Of course, there was the inevitable stacks of timber waiting to be exported; we had seen it in every port we visited so far.
Immediately below us, on the dockside, we could see rows and rows of brand new Toyota cars which must have recently been imported from Japan. As we watched, a couple of transporter trucks pulled up, and started lowering the ramps. One by one, the cars were driven on to the trucks and secured, then as one lorry pulled away with its load, another one arrived. There was always something to see in the port, always something going on. 😊
We decided to wait a bit before disembarking to avoid the worst of the queues. It was about 10 o’clock when we disembarked and took the shuttle bus into the bustling main town.
Wellington is named after Arthur Wellesley, the first Duke of Wellington and victor in the Battle of Waterloo (1815); his title comes from the town of Wellington in Somerset, England. It is, perhaps predictably, known as “Welly” to the locals. 😊
As we walked through the city with its impressive buildings and main shopping centre (which we would experience later on our organised Panoramic City Tour) we decided we would make the most of the famous Wellington cable car.
The Wellington Cable Car is a funicular railway between Lambton Quay, the main shopping street, and Kelburn, a suburb in the hills overlooking the central city. It rises 394 feet (120m) for a length of 1,998 feet (609m). It was opened in 1902, and there is also a museum on the site containing vintage cable cars. It is one of the most popular visitor attractions in Wellington.
We used Google Maps to find our way to the place where you joined the cable car, and spotted the inevitable queue on the pavement leading to the entrance. We had plenty of time however, and the queue moved quickly, and soon we purchased our tickets, went through the turnstile and waited for the cable car to arrive.
Presently it lumbered into the station with a “ding ding” warning bell, and we waited until the doors slid open and the passengers all alighted, before we took our seats in the old-fashioned car. The journey only took five minutes and we enjoyed the views on the way, but the best views were at the top.
Once we arrived and saw the sweeping views over the tops of the high-rise buildings towards the waterfront, we were dismayed to see ponderous grey clouds and dull skies which seemed to remove much of the colour from the scene (and my photographs). I hoped it wouldn’t rain, as I didn’t have any waterproofs with me, bearing in mind the beautiful clear skies this morning. We were lucky, however; the rain held off and eventually the sun made a reappearance. 😊
After we’d spent some time enjoying the vistas, we went inside to where there was an old tram car. At first, we thought the seats looked uncomfortable as they were all at an angle from horizontal. However, we soon realised that once the cable car was underway, the angle would level out and the seats would then allow the passengers to sit upright. 😊
Down we went again, and walked back to the shuttle bus stop. We were back on board the Edge around midday which gave us time to have something to eat before our half-day tour this afternoon. The weather was now too nice and sunny to eat inside, so we went along to the Mast Bar & Grill and enjoyed a juicy cheeseburger each washed down with a bottle of cold VB beer.
At 1.45pm we made our way once more down the gangplank to where the rows of coaches waited, and we were directed to the correct one for our trip. Our driver was a large, jolly man called Paul. He also acted as our guide, and once everyone was on board we set off through the streets, Paul pointing out anything of interest as well as throwing in the odd corny joke for good measure. 😊
We passed the architecturally ornate Wellington Library, as well as the distinctive Railway Station, with its massive pillared façade. We also drove for a way along the picturesque waterfront and we passed a sports stadium with the word “WELLINGTON” spelled out in large white letters on the hillside, in a parody of the famous Hollywood sign. The ‘O’ in Wellington was in the shaped of a football. 😊
One of the “must-see” parts of the tour was a visit to Te Papa Tongarewa, which is Maori for “Museum of New Zealand”. Because our tour was only a 4-hour one and there was lots to pack in, we only had an hour at the museum which didn’t really do it justice at all, but there was a guide on hand who led us around and pointed out exhibitions, displays and objects of interest, and explained the Maori culture to us.
We saw fabulous, ornate and colourful wall panels in relief, as well as stained glass windows. Part of the museum covered nature, and we saw stuffed kiwis and albatrosses as well as a colossal squid. It really was massive; it must have been over 10 feet long.
We also saw a huge boulder made of green jade. It was supposed to be good luck to “touch the stone”. A plaque on the wall stated:
This boulder of pounamu, or greenstone, symbolises the solid, stable, permanent foundations of Te Marae. In Maori culture, pounamu epitomises everything we prize, because of its unyielding strength, its beauty and its rarity.
This stone has been blessed – its wairua, or spiritual essence, protects Maori traditional values in all ceremonies that take place on the marae.
The stone was presented by the Ngai Tahu tribe.
There was also a display which told the story of the 1915-16 Gallipoli Campaign in the First World War, in which New Zealanders and Australians played a large part. We unfortunately had to hurry through that part, as time was getting on.
All too soon we had to be on the coach again, and our driver advised us that someone had messed up the tour schedule; the timings he had been given were not going to work. He said that we were supposed to visit Sunset Rock Lookout, which was a scenic spot in Mount Victoria, and then go to the Botanical Gardens afterwards. He said that, in order to have time to do both, one of them would have to be cut short and he asked us all which we would prefer. The general consensus was that everyone wanted to go to the scenic lookout, and the botanical gardens would only have the flying visit.
Off we went, up the twisting, winding roads to the top. Once there, we had stunning 360 degree views over the city of Wellington. The sun was shining down hotly by now, and I wished I put on my linen cropped trousers instead of my jeans.
Once we made our way back down again, Paul took us to the Botanical Gardens. It closed at 4.00pm and it was now 4.15, so we couldn’t go into the begonia house and some of the other hothouses, but at least we could stroll through the rose gardens and admire the colourful blooms. 😊
By the time we arrived back at the Edge we were too late for our ludicrously-early dinner time of 5.30pm, so we got washed and changed and made our way up to the Ocean View Café instead. In any case, Trevor and I had both decided that we preferred to dine in the Ocean View; there was more choice and it was quicker serving yourself than the somewhat-slow service we had experienced in the dining room.
I’d already tried Indian and Mexican, so this time I opted just for a plate of salad greens with a selection of cold meats. I followed it with a coffee mousse and it was washed down with cold water and house rosé wine.
After dinner, we pottered around the ship for a while before making our way down to The Club to watch tonight’s game show, which was called “Finish the Song”. Contestants were called up to the mic, one by one, and a random song would play and then stop, and then you had to continue with the lyrics. You had to be word-perfect to get the point!
Each person had three songs to finish, and those with the fewest points were eliminated until there were only three contestants left. A song would then play, and the first person up to the mic would carry on singing when the music stopped. One bloke seemed to know every song, so he was declared the winner and received a Celebrity Cruises baseball cap as well as a USB stick. 😊
We then hotfooted it along to the theatre to get a good seat for tonight’s performance, which featured the Theatre Production Cast doing a show called “Feel the Funk”. It consisted of disco and soul classics and was a colourful, exuberant show. As the Edge is such a large ship, the stage and its surroundings is also large, and there are 15 members of the cast. The use of high-tech sound and lighting effects made sure the 1970s music was given a 2024 facelift. 😊
We finished the evening off by returning to The Club, which seems to be where it’s all at after 10.30pm. Tonight, cruise director, Giuseppe was hosting an “80s Flashback Party”. The place was already packed when we arrived, and it was difficult to get a seat; we had to perch on barstools. The music was good; I always loved 1980s music – it’s probably my favourite era.
It was around half-eleven when we returned to 3142 and settled down for the night after a most enjoyable day.
So far, we had fallen in love with New Zealand, and thoroughly enjoyed our visits to three very different places. We had Christchurch to look forward to tomorrow. 😊