4/11/14 - "Windy" Wellington

On our Wellington City tour the highlight was the Parliament Buildings. We toured the site which was extremely informative re: the government of New Zealand. The Governor General is appointed by the Queen as her representative. The governor-general is viewed by some as the de facto head of state. The functions and roles of the governor-general include: appointing ministers and judges, dissolving parliament, granting Royal Assent to legislation, issuing writs for elections and bestowing honors.

Parliament and the Library

Beehive

We learned all about the New Zealand government at a high level while touring different chambers. The House has a Mixed Member Proportional electoral system which is intended to represent the diversity of the population including minorities and is better explained by their website. They can only campaign for 2 months. Their responsibility is to pass laws. The Executive Branch is housed in the Beehive building and has accountability to the House of Representatives for its actions. The Beehive was designed in 1964 and has 14 stories above ground.

We viewed the Maori Affairs Select Committee Room which is decorated with carvings of the four tides, all tribes and their legends and cultural heroes. You can find out more on the parliament website as we weren't allowed to take photos. It was very interesting.

OK, for those who like engineering feats: in 1992-1995 a refurbishment project was carried out involved separating the Parliament House from its foundation placing the building on isolation technology. Very cool.


We took the cable car up the side of the hill and had a view of the city in the rain. At the top was a Cable Car Museum and the entrance to the Wellington Botanic Gardens.




















Next we had a guided tour of the Museum of Te Papa Tongarewa which has interactive exhibits of Maori heritage, New Zealand natural history and environment and art treasures.

 

Lord of the Rings increased tourism by 30%

A Kiwi skeleton with a model of an egg which is huge compared to the size of the body.

We had a free afternoon so we went to the Museum Wellington City & Sea. It has information on Wellington's social and maritime history.