TransOceania Wellington Restday

Feels a nice friendly place: lots of eateries, craft things, business centre. Well spaced out and easy to navigate. The “usual” dockside regeneration / repurposing of buildings, done well. Relatively quiet – it somehow doesn’t feel like a capital, though I can’t pin it down.

Wellington is prone to earthquakes because it rests on the point where two tectonic plates meet. Kilometres beneath Wellington the light, thick Australian plate rides over the heavier, but thinner Pacific plate. These plate movements have resulted in three major fault-lines running either through or very close to Wellington City – the Ohariu Fault, the Wairarapa Fault, and the Wellington Fault. When one of these faults shifts suddenly that earthquakes occur. The number of earthquakes which occur in Wellington has led to our city becoming one of the world’s leading centres for the study and research of earthquake activity and for the development of seismic strengthening techniques in buildings.

The first major new building engineered to approaching modern day earthquake standards was the railway station, dating to 1934 onwardsThere are other fine buildings of similar art noveau design and vintage around – particularly the St John’s Ambulance Depot (now a nice restaurant). No surprise there was a severe earthquake in 1934.

The new parliament building is of fine stone – adjacent to it is the Beehive, which houses the Goverment offices. No time for a tour – the carpet (tapestry) hung on the entrance hall is quite something.

As is Te Pape New Zealand museum which does a fine job of explaining NZ origins and development. What again struck home was the deforestation starting with the Maori’s and escalating with the Europeans. Starker still was a map showing the Maori land’s before 1860 and after – none, zero, zilch, in the South Island from that point forward. It also evidenced NZ own colonialisation of the islands, such as Cooke Island. I suppose it was in their blood.

So onwards to the South Island and new places / landscapes.