Te Papa Mesuem

We were there when Te Papa had it's 10th year anniversary and there were a lot of free stuffs for that that! There was a free cake for all, guys acting as a starfish, free admission on some parts of the museum that would usually ask for an entrance fee and models painted with clothes on but thank God they were wearing their underwear.





For those people who loves to learn about the history of a certain country or place, museums are the right place for them and in this case, in Wellington, Te Papa is the right place for them.

Since I went to Te Papa with my relatives we had a lot of souvenirs with us. We didn't realize it until we went back to the car and showed to each other what we saw and what we got. The souvenirs we got was only paper based that we got from one part of the museums as seen below:


Each of the passport like souvenirs has a different profile. Complete with name, picture, what made them go to New Zealand, how they went to New Zealand and where in New Zealand they first arrived.

Something Stinks in Rotorua

When we were kids, my cousins and I would tease each other if we smell something like a rotten egg that one of us might have "unleashed" that smell. Obviously, no one would admit it until someone would walk out and go to the washroom. When we were nearing the town we smelled a strong stink of rotten eggs and we bagan teasing each other again but then it was known to all that Roturua has that kind of smell especially if you go near ant lake or a drain.

Rotorua is famous for it's thermal activity that causes the sulphur or odd smell in the air. But other than it's stinky smell Rotorua has a lot to offer.

We only stayed for a couple of hours here to have lunch, visit the sheeps, go to the Bath House-musuem, play with the sea gulls and to rest for a while.

Mount Victoria

Ever wonder where you can go to have a glimpse of the beautiful wellington?

So the picture above of the view doesn't give a justice to what you will see there. I was only using a point and shoot camera here and my hands are shaky because it was cold that night. I'll take a better picture when I go back there using a DSLR and a tripod.

The Mount Victoria famous tourist destination. It is approximately 196 metres in height but it is not that hard to climb. If you are going there with friends or loved once try chatting while going up the hill so that you're attention will somehow be preoccupied with what your talking about and not how many steps you've taken to reach the top.

When you reach the top of Mt Victoria you'll see the ferries sail into the harbour and the planes go in and out of the airport. You will also see all the buildings that Wellington has and one of those buildings is the Te Papa building.

Amazing Wellington

Wellington is the capital of New Zealand and luckily that’s where my relatives live. So, this is a big big saving for us instead of staying at a hotel. But yeah, technically the reason why we went there was to spend some time with them. My mom, sister and I stayed at Daddy’s house (auncle; older brother of my mom) which is at Karori and sometimes we stay at my Tito Inag ot Tita Lil's house.

Commuting in Wellington is easy. When no one was available to drive us around the city, we take the bus to go to the city and take the bus again going home or someone would usually pick us at wherever we were. Riding the bus is cheap and it's as easy as one, two, three.

The museum has a total of six floors and an outside like park. It is huge and nice. Each part is full of surprises and is detailed. I must say that it was worth the visit plus it’s free so we did not spend a single penny.

The garden also has a duck pond which has a lot of pigeons in front of it when we went there.

I’m not even sure how long we were there but we saw a playground with a huge slide. So, me and my cousins played on the playground for a while.

BOTANIC GARDEN AND WELLINGTON CABLE CAR

Be sure to wear flats or sneakers when going here. The Botanic Garden is twenty six (26) hectares of unique landscape with beautiful flowers and huge old trees.

• One: Take note of the bus number you have to get on
• Two: Have enough change to pay for the bus
• Three: Get off the right bus stop

But if you don't want to ride the bus you can always opt to take a cab. Walking also works but from where we stayed going to the city or to the malls, it is still advisable to take the bus. Going there walking might take forever. Haha. But we do walk a lot going to the mini mart, school of my cousin to pick him up and to buy fish and chips. Hmmmm... Yummy!

There are a lot of places to go to in Wellington. Parks, Museums, Malls, Pools and so on.

TE PAPA

Te Papa is one of the popular museum in Wellington and is one of a must-go-to places in Wellington. It is open every day of the year, including public holidays from 10:00 am – 6:00 pm and 10:00 am and 9:00 pm on Thursdays. The entrance is fee but there are some exhibits and activities inside that charge an entrance fee. The museum is a large place that helps you discover new things from the unique natural environment, Maori culture, dynamic heritage and fascinating history of New Zealand.

At the top of the hill or garden (I don't know what to call it) is the cable car. That's our ride going to the city. It is one of Wellinton's oldest and most popular tourist attraction. One way ride costs $3.00 and a round trip is $6.00. When riding the cable never forget to look at the window to view the beautiful land of Wellington.

After riding the cable car we went to the mall to do a little shopping. Unlike in Manila, the malls closes at around 4:00-5:00 pm. So we always go to the mall around lunch time up to closing time.

THE PARLIAMENT BUILDING

The Parliament Building is also known as The Beehive Building. It is a ten-story building is shaped like an actual beehive. It is where the office of the Prime Minister is and the other cabinet members. It is located at the corner of Molesworth Street and Lambton Quay in Wellington. Given that the office of the Prime Minister is in Wellington, it is already given that the Prime Minister also lives in Wellington. Surprisingly, the house of the Minister is just within the area where "normal" people lives. There is no special treatment for him. He has to follow the rules like everyone else especially traffic rules and speed limits. I believe that he also does not have a super duper strict security for him.

I promise to be back in New Zealand someday. I'm just not sure when but I promise to be back :)