Te Papa Museum, Wellington, New Zealand - Home of the 20 foot Squid

January 3, 2011, Te PaPa Musem in Wellington, New Zealand..

 New Zealand's Te Papa Museum, home of the largest Squid ever discovered and captured... this was the entrance to the museum. General admission is Free, special showings of the European Masters cost $40 per person to enter, we went cheap - you guessed it FREE is best.

Sandy and my sister, Nilda Daken, infornt of the Maori Totem Pole...

 We decided to explore the sea exhibits since this is perhaps the most visited part of the museum, the marine life in New Zealand..

 Some of the rarest species of fish is found at the oceans of New Zealand... everything the ocean floor grows seems enormous...

 Altho I was disappointed in being able to see a KIWI bird in its natural habitat, I settled for these specimens...

This is a 20 foot Giant Squid caught in 2004 and preserved under a flexiglass, this animal was large enough to even capture a great white shark...

 Te Papa's collection Maori Sculptures and arts... all hand carved and hand laden.

Wellington, New Zealand - Our City Tour of Downtown City Centre

January 3, 2011 - Wellington, the windy city, seat of government and the arts, plenty of things to do and visit...

Exploring Wellington city was somewhat subdued, the traffic was very light due to being their New Year holiday, most of the main malls and shops were closed, mostly restaurants and eateries like the 'FinC Bistro' were open for us visitors...

 My sister ordering gourmet lunch at 'FinC Bistro' in downtown Wellington, I had the best tasting Bruscheta ever... yummy... of course, we had to have Fish & chips, freshest fish ever, still no malt vinegar or tartar sauce but crispy and delicious..

 Ordering gourmet lunch for this upscale Bistro in Wellington was a delight, altho expensive...

 Sandy by the Crosswalk Bridge of the City Hall and the Harbor beachside...

 My sister and I infront of the Circa Theater...

 Wellington's indoor Mall is both diverse and on the pricy side...

The Street Maps of Wellington, all attractions are all within walking distance from the main city streets...

Wellington - The Windy City Scenics and places to visit

January 3, 2011 - the windy city of Wellington, just like San Francisco, this beach resort town is the Capital of New Zealand, center of the performing arts among other things their seat of government...

 Beautiful Wellington Bay harbor and skyline... gorgeous city and also very windy on a normal day...

 Wellington harbor from the mountain view...

 Wellington Harbor provides Kiwis their main transport to the south island via Ferry...

 White sandy beach of Wellington, fit for summer swimming and sun frolic, except, it was too windy to brave the waters...

 Flocked by seagulls and other sea mammals, Wellington is a haven for natural yet city life style...

 The prestigious Marina of Wellington, boasts private yachts and privately owned sea vessels dot the skyline...

 The main Ferry transport to the south island can be purchased from $300/Car/person, travel takes about 4 hours.

 Whale tail monument along the harbor of Wellington...

 Art sculpture along the Te Papa Museum.... 

 Wellington's English Catholic Church is perched right at the top of the hill overlooking the bay...

 One of Wellington's performing arts theater... the Circa Theater...

Wellington's Mac Brewery frequently visited by travelers far and near, serves local vintage wines, tasting room and tours...

 Beehive Building, seat of the Wellington government, the city hall and city centre...

 Imagine bungy jumping in the middle of rush hour, yep, leave it to the Kiwis to thinsk of excitings things to do in the heart of the city... 

 Award winning architecture - Beehive Building business center...

 The Wellington Botanical Garden and Park is walking distance from our hotel, such a lovely way to pass time...

Lo and behold, they even have KFC right from our hotel....good to feel like being home...

Road Trip to Wellington, New Zealand January 2, 2011

January 2, 2011 - our roadtrip from Hastings to Wellington...

We left Hastings rather early, there was no usual traffic we encounter going out of the city, here, you just hop in your car and go... This was our first trip here so we are enjoying the countryside sceneries, farms and hillsides dotted by pine trees planted by landowners to mark the boundaries of their land, this was also my sister's first trip out of Hastings, altho she's been driving in and around Hastings, the furthest trip she has taken was only to Napier which was a 30 min ride away... 

since this was going to be a 6 hour road trip, we decided to stop by a smaller town called Waipawa, there we had breakfast at McDonalds... we were curious the subtle differences in the menu, perhaps the most eye opening is the prices are almost double how much we pay for the same hamburger in California... Sorry guys, just can't get over the high prices of food, one sit down brunch cost almost $60USD (practically $20 per person)..

After we came out of the very winding roads after passing all the dense forest of Whaka, we were greeted by this scenic beauty of Wellington on our way to the Hotel.

Houses dotted the horizon above the sea level... almost like driving to San Diego on Pacific Coast hwy.

The landscape was green and serene... not the usual city hustle and bustle traffic which is what I was expecting, instead we travelled all the kilometers (miles) on a 2 lane hwy and very seldom do you see congestions and traffic buildup...

We arrived at Hotel Ibis, in downtown Wellington, as in most city, traffic was a clockwork of one way streets and again, all driving  on the left hand side of the streets...

My sister and Sandy relieved to get out of the car after 6 hours of traveling, the city seemed almost empty...kept forgetting this was their holidays and no one works...

At the Hotel lobby, I was greeted by a very common sight in New Zealand, the All Blacks Rugby team (champions), this fully authographed picture mural was prominently displayed for every guest to see...