Wellington

I left the farm with CeCe, as we had similar aspirations over the coming weeks. Our plans would take us towards the South Island where we both hoped to do some of the numerous walks and multi day treks New Zealand has to offer.

Our first destination would be Wellington, the capital of New Zealand and the southern most city of the North Island. Walking through the streets in search of accommodation, it was apparent that Wellington was a city full of character. Featuring Gothic architecture, an old style cable car, as well as boasting a beautiful harbour leading to the South Island. Thought was even given to the pedestrian traffic light symbols, who were given classic Victorian attire.

Upon our research for Wellington we had come across an interesting sounding music gig by a Ukrainian man, who had spent the past two years hitchhiking the world. Playing at various locations throughout New Zealand, the show was called ‘Make Like A Tree’ and although he was a solo artist, he never played a gig alone. No matter which country or location he played, he found local artists to accompany him onstage, thus introducing new sounds and methods into every performance.

It was really interesting to listen to, in particular a song based around the sounds of the ocean. This involved a member of the audience being asked to play a drum with some kind of ball bearings inside, which created wave like noises.

We also took a trip to Island Bay, a nearby coastal town famous for it’s red rocks and seal colony. Once there we had a pleasant two hour walk each way. The ‘red rocks’ were actually a mixture of red, green, purple and grey, emerging there as a result of movement in tectonic plates when New Zealand was initially formed. The purple rocks were the only ones formed through volcanic activity. Reaching the end of the track we weren’t disappointed by the seal colony, seeing at least six spread out across the scattered rocks, some basking in the sun whilst others enjoyed the water.

On our final morning we visited Te Papa museum, which had a variety of exhibits relating to New Zealand’s native history as well as the many different settlers who had graced their shores. It was interesting to see how much foreign flora and fauna has been introduced to the country over this time, many of which have caused destruction to the native wildlife.

There was also an exhibit on the famous haka, the war dance performed by the All Blacks rugby team before games. The dance originated from the Ngati Toa Maori tribe, performed by the chief who had been running from an attack of a rival tribe. He was hidden away by another tribe, behind food and women, both of which held powerful qualities that stopped the man being detected by the hunters.

‘Ka Mate! Ka Mate!
Ka Ora! Ka Ora!’

These first two lines translate to ‘It is death! It is death! It is life! It is life!’ Composed as the hunted man wonders whether he will live or die. There has been much controversy over this being performed for commercial use, with the tribe trying to trademark the haka in 1999, an attempt which way unsuccessful. In 2011 the tribe and the New Zealand Rugby Union signed a memorandum that recognises the relationship between the tribe, Ka Mate and the Rugby Union.

After our educational morning it was time to say farewell to the North Island, for now, as we boarded the ferry that would carry us across the Cook Strait.