Wellington: waterfront

Perhaps even more-so than Wellington's cosmopolitan central business district (the locals call it the Cee-Bee-Dee), the waterfront dominates the Wellington cityscape. A lovely park symbolically bridges the gap between city and water; on one side, metal and stone blend into buildings. On the other side, Maori styled wood carvings evoke images of the sea.

There is a different kind of vibrancy at the waterfront. The CBD has the excitement of commerce and urban art. The waterfront has happy people strolling, eating ice cream, bicycling, kayaking, and otherwise enjoying themselves.

We spent a good deal of time simply strolling the waterfront and marvelling at the views, but both days we spent by ourselves in the waterfront district we found our way to New Zealand's national museum, Te Papa. Te Papa is an impressive museum with days or maybe weeks of content to peruse.

Though Te Papa is free to visit, certain special exhibits charge admission. We paid to see the "Splendours of Japan" exhibition (no, we did not pay to see the Lord of the Rings exhibition). Te Papa secured an exchange agreement with the Japanese national museum in Tokyo to display a number of Japanese national treasures, including various scrolls, paintings, sculptures, and (our favourites) some ludicrously sharp looking samurai swords.

Additionally, we spent some time looking at some Polynesian exhibits. We found these a bit overwhelming in one shot. In the future, we'll be taking more trips to Te Papa to explore these exhibits to learn more about the Maori in particular.

After working up a thirst, we found a Mac's brewery. The food was mediocre, but they had a beer called "Brewjolais," which is apparently a one time special brew. That was nice to find. It was another taste of home. Made with fresh hops and lots of fermentables, it tasted very much like a beer from our beloved Kettlehouse brewery in Missoula. Now, if only we can figure out how to get them to make this beer again...