Hmmm, here we are in Wellington (this was written Nov. 8, sorry it’s out of order here), enjoying it very much after only five hours or so in town, three of them at the national museum, Te Papa, learning a bit more about the Maori and the English. Everywhere we have been up til now there is a kind of lip service paid to the “dual” history of the country, but a cloudy vagueness about the details of the history has been part of that. Te Papa seems to address it more directly, and it’s been very interesting to us, quite moving, compelling. I hope to write more about all that as time goes on.
Wellington is reminiscent of San Francisco—built around a huge bay, lots of hills, lots of distinct neighborhoods, sophisticated feeling, cafes, restaurants, culture, boats, big shipping port, a kind of self-aware style. Many people wearing black—haven’t seen that anywhere else. There are many wooden Victorian houses with pretty little gardens—kiwis for the most part live in houses, not apartments, even in cities, though I understand that is changing somewhat. But the residential areas seem to still be mostly houses, except right down in the downtown-est part of the city, Of course this is the capitol, so there’s all the government stuff, too, lots of people in suits with briefcases, lots of public buildings.
Right on the waterfront near the national museum is a skateboard park with several concrete half-pipes and some artwork that looks like permanent graffiti. There’s a very cosmopolitan feeling. We’ve seen skateboard parks and skateboarders in most towns we’ve been through with more than a few thousand people.
Auckland had a very different feel from Wellington, many big buildings and several freeways right through town, some interesting neighborhoods but a lot of sprawl—suburbs for miles in all directions--and a lot of very ugly buildings. People have consistently steered us away from spending time there, even though about a quarter of the population of the whole country lives there. Most people, when we ask about Auckland, say, “It’s a city” as if that says it all.
Ugly commercial architecture is one theme of this trip so far. Commercial districts of most towns and of Auckland as well are a hodgepodge of colors and styles, reminiscent of the high streets of English “new towns”—lots of plastic signs and gaudy advertising, big signs in shop windows with plenty of exclamation points. That’s been surprising, don’t know why—I guess with all the natural beauty I thought people would insist on good city planning, have more interest in the aesthetic design of the towns. Wellie is prettier but has many streets with similar shopfronts, as if they are competing for your attention by trying to be the brightest, most colorful, with the biggest lettering on their signs.
(Addendum: We had two lovely dinners in Wellington, one sort of French bistro fare, the other very “California”—plenty of good food in Wellie. Stayed in a great little motel very near Oriental Bay—the Apollo Lodge. Had a full kitchen so were able to make our breakfasts and lunches and get a little more fruit and veggies than are on offer in most cafes. We had a lovely day at the Wellington Botanical garden, finally started to learn some of the trees and other plants. The roses there were in their very first flush, covered with buds, mostly not even blooming yet. Rhododendron in a riot—that’s true everywhere so far. It’s very pretty, Wellington. Took the Bluebridge ferry across the Cook Strait to the South Island on Saturday the 10th. It was cloudy and rainy all the way across, hope it will be clearer when we return to the North Island next month. Marlborough Sounds very beautiful, reminiscent of the San Juans and Canadian Channel Islands up there, except for the huge tree ferns everywhere!)
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