Wonderful Whirlwind Wellington

I think Wellington ended up being my favorite city in New Zealand. It was a bit of a shame our Picton and Wellington days got switched and we ended up with such a tight window here. We were docked around 7.30, with a 25minute shuttle required from port to town centre, and final shuttle back at 2.30pm..
I was up 4-6am for Netherlands Vs USA in the World Cup. We grabbed breakfast and caught most of the first half of Australia vs Argentina, before heading ashore to make the most of our time in Wellington.
The shuttle dropped us at the city I-Site (Information Centre) where we could purchase tickets and jump on a free shuttle to our first stop; Zealandier.
This was basically a huge open range, jungle, bird sanctuary. I gotta say, I was really impressed with the surrounds as well as amount of birds we saw, even with a noisy group of kiddos - **specify birds** The most spectacular were the Kaka parrots, swooping about us and on clear show earning food from pedal-operated lunch boxes. We spent about 2 hours here before taking a 25minute walk along the hilly suburbs of Wellington. I never realised how mountainous this city was, homes by the hundreds scattered about on all arrays of slopes, many super steep, near all with great views.
Eventually we ended up atop the Wellington Gondalas, basically a steep tram descending the mountainside down to the harbour. Great views, $5 tickets, fun for the kids and largely pram friendly. From the base, we had a 15minute walk along the waterfront to the te Papa Museum.
This was an amazing museum, we had to rush to get through even a few sections. The Ww1 Gallipoli Exhibit and Nature area (animals, geothermal, sea) were both very impressive. It really blew Melbourne Museum away.
All we had time for from there was a quick McDonalds stop, a couple souvenirs and 2.30pm shuttle trip back to the ship with the hoardes.Read more