Wellington, Part One

(might as well publish these posts I started almost a year ago ...)

After my terrific time in Sydney, I was thrilled to head to Wellington, New Zealand, not least because I was meeting up with a friend. I was ready to chat with someone.

I arrived in New Zealand's capital city on Sunday afternoon, Dec 21. The airport isn't big, which usually means shorter lines. However, the lines for immigration were really really slow. Apparently, five international flights landed at once, creating long queues.

Happily, my friend Deb was waiting for me even though it took an hour longer than expected for me to clear immigration and customs. Here's the weird thing about New Zealand: to come here as a tourist, you need to have "proof" that you have plans to leave the country. A printed airline itinerary is sufficient if it shows your departing flight ... and this is "proof"?

After decompressing on Sunday evening, Monday had me meeting a colleague at the National Library of New Zealand (notice the trend here?). Gordon and I exchanged notes on our latest efforts in digiital library work, and then went for tea. My friend Deb loves tea. One doesn't forget New Zealand's relationship with the British Commonwealth.

I decided to walk in to town to meet Gordon, to get a little exercise. I passed a building with a paint job after my heart:

After meeting with Gordon, I went to Te Papa, the wonderful museum in downtown Wellington. As an added bonus, there's no admission charge.

I was supposed to cross the Cook Strait on Tuesday and swim with the Dolphins near Picton, on the South Island, on Wednesday morning. Unfortunately, I woke up with a migraine on Tuesday. I decided to cancel my excursion and take some down time. I was sorry to give up that experience, but I can easily imagine coming back to New Zealand, focusing on the South Island for a few weeks.