Overcast skies, with a threat of rain, along with strong winds greeted us as we moored in Wellington early this morning.  There are a lot of options for how to spend your day, so it’s always a good idea to leave the ship with a plan.

Our plan for today was to visit the Museum of New Zealand and walk back to the cable car, ride that to the top, and possibly walk down thru the botanical gardens.

We relaxed in our cabin until 1 PM before heading down to the wharf to catch the mandatory shuttle to one of two stops in town.

• Stop 1- Brandon Street and Lambton Quay
• Stop 2- 170 Wakefield St – (Near Wakefield and Jervois Quay) 

The buses were running about every 15 minutes.   There were two local people, wearing yellow vests, available to assist at each stop.  The buses ran in a counterclockwise loop from the ship to stop 1, then stop 2, and back to the ship.

We stayed on the shuttle until stop 2 and stopped by the Wellington Visitor Center – full of maps and helpful people – before continuing to the Museum.

Along the way, we came across three people dressed as Japanese Anime Characters from the TV Show “Bleach”

We spoke with these characters and learned that this weekend was the Wellington COS Play Photofest -More HERE

Museum of New Zealand

Once it started to rain, we scurried into the Museum of New Zealand, which was free.    This is a large museum covering four floors.  We spent about 90 minutes exploring the first floor and the gift shop.    You could easily spend 4 hours exploring.

We waited 20 minutes for the Earthquake simulator – a small house holding eight people.   Inside, we watched a video of a family experiencing an earthquake in their kitchen, followed by the floor we were standing on shaking back and forth for about 15 seconds.   If you are limited with time, I would pass on this unless there wasn’t any line.

We spend the most time exploring the Gallipoli exhibit.   We knew very little about this World War I campaign as there wasn’t any USA involvement.  This was a very bloody campaign with over 500 K casualties on both sides and over 100K people killed in 11 months.   This exhibition tells the story of the Gallipoli campaign through the eyes and words of eight ordinary New Zealanders.   Huge 2.4 times life-size sculptures of the 5 featured New Zealanders are the exhibit’s centerpiece.    We speed thru in about 20 minutes, but you could easily spend a couple of hours in this exhibit alone.   Reading up on this campaign in advance will make your visit more interesting.

Wellington Cable Car

Outside the museum, we caught an Uber and headed off to the lower cable car station on Lambton Quay.   The station itself isn’t visible from the street, but you will see a miniature cable car on a pole to mark the entrance from the street.

We bought our tickets online in advance HERE, but you could buy them at the booth on the spot.   There wasn’t any line when we arrived, but you may save some time buying in advance during busier times.

The cable car runs about every 10 minutes.   There is a small cable car museum at the summit and a café with a nice view.   We spent about 15 minutes browsing the museum.   The Café kitchen was closed, so we took the cable car back to Lambton Quay.

If you have the time, walking down through the Botanical Garden instead would be a great option.

There is a Countdown grocery store on Lambton Quay at the exit of the small alley leading from the cable car station.   We stocked up on Tim Tam’s before heading to Shuttle Stop 1 and back to the ship.

There wasn’t any show on the World Stage this evening.

We had a great four days in New Zealand, and we now head across the Tasman Sea en route to Sydney, Australia in 3 days.  

Wellington Cruise Day Visit Suggestions

Here are some other suggestions for future visitors to Wellington – We were here on a Sunday so many places were closed.

As the Capitol of New Zealand, there are many other interesting places to consider on your visit.   The “Beehive” is home to the Prime Minister and other executive offices.   Tours are available through the parliament and a viewing gallery, but since we are there on a Sunday, they will probably not be available.   Check their website for hours and availability.

There is a self-guided walking tour available for downloading from the Parliament’s website.

The nearby National Library also holds some historical documents, like the Treaty of Waitangi, but they are closed on Sundays.

There are several excellent shopping centers in addition to the shops you will find along the Golden Mile.   The starting point to the Golden Mile is close to the Beehive, where the Shuttle drop-off point has been previously.    If you walk down the Golden Mile, you will run into the Cable Car station, which you could take to the summit and then walk down or take the round trip on the cable car.   See map above