Windy Wellington

There was no direct flight from Sydney to Wellington at a reasonable price. Instead I took the long trip via Brisbane, involving two flights and a major argument with the check-in desk at Sydney Domestic terminal, where the assistant (who failed to assist) refused to acknowledge that UK passport holders do not need a visa for either Australia or New Zealand. At the end of a distinctly chilly check-in she hissed at me that I would be ejected from the country if I didn't renew my visa by April 9th. Oh well, sometimes they don't like the English (but then nor do I).

Wellington is known at Windy Wellington, on account of the winds that whistle up the Cook Straight. As a consequence the Straight is a notorious ship's graveyard. Perhaps the most famous, certainly the most recent, major shipwreck was that of the inter-island ferry Wahine, which came to grief in a terrible storm in April 1968. As I'm taking an inter-island ferry tomorrow, I'm keeping a close watch on the weather.

Wellington has a reputation for culture, but until very recently (so I learned from the excellent display at the Wellington Museum) the city council seemed to spend most of its time knocking down the old buildings. There certainly isn't much to see, at least as far as I could make out. There are some handsome old buildings round the harbour, but mostly its modern glass and concrete or just concrete. Notable amongst the modern is the Te Papa National Museum of New Zealand. I made it there half an hour before closing time and a very jolly old cove told me I had to see the colossal squid and the “Golden Days” exhibit. I raced up the stairs and was led by signs to the formalin bath in which the colossal squid now resides. It didn't seem to me that colossal, but when I complained I was told it was only a baby. This seemed to me a case of “the one that got away”. That said, it was certainly not a creature I would have liked to encounter while swimming.

Tomorrow it's goodbye Wellington, hello South Island, providing, of course, I am not shipwrecked.