Down Under: Te Papa to Blenheim

TE PAPA MUSEUM

On Friday by prior arrangement, we were hosted at Te Papa Tongarewa, Museum of New Zealand, by Liz Hay and some of her colleagues.  

After a warm welcome, we chatted over coffee before meeting with the director, Garant and Dave, COO. Over lunch we had more time with Liz along with Patrick, who oversees the installation teams around the world of their traveling exhibits, and Mark, collection manager. The California Academy of Sciences presented their exhibit, “Whales,” which the Chief Penguin and I saw in New York before he signed the contract for it to come to San Francisco. It was/is a fabulous exhibit which incorporates material about the Maori culture, giving it a social history component in addition to the science and study of those large mammals.

Moari meetinghouse (blogteara.co.nz)

The museum opened in its current location on the waterfront in 1998 and it’s a beautiful and striking building. We were with museum staff all day and consequently, wished the day had been longer so that we could have explored even more of it. Mariah, our guide for the public floor and part of the paid staff, is Maori and she gave us a lot of context for the exhibits. She is both proud of and a bit defensive about her Maori heritage so touring with her provided a perspective we wouldn’t have gotten otherwise. She grew up in Wellington and said as an “urban Maori,” there was a lot that she was not exposed to. Only recently, as an adult, has she been learning the Maori language. Her siblings have not embraced their Maori roots in the same way. She also stated that since the 1990’s there has been more positive feeling between Maoris and Caucasians, and more Maori have been elected to serve in parliament.

The second half of our tour included going behind the scenes to see the collections. These Maori artifacts are viewed as sacred and, therefore, we were required to leave our backpacks and handbags in a locker outside. Upon entering, Mark, the collection manager, gave a short prayer in Maori before we proceeded. Their collection includes weapons of various sorts made of stone or wood, beautiful woven baskets, and gorgeous ceremonial robes made with feathers from various birds.

Maori weaving (pinterest.com)

Today, collection managers in New Zealand museums must be Maori themselves if it’s a Maori collection. Mark is Maori, did some required training, and is currently studying toward a master’s degree. He is also a weaver. Around his neck, he wore a pendant made of New Zealand greenstone, a type of jade. Before we left the collection room, he gave another prayer, returning us to earth and grounding us. The Maori are a superstitious people. Outside the door at the water fountain, he took a few drops of water and sort of sprinkled them over his head and face, a cleansing act. We copied his actions.

Aside from the Maori artifacts, meetinghouse, and large-scale renditions of the Waitangi Treaty on opposite walls in English and Maori, the museum has an art collection, several cafes, and an exhibit on the Battle at Gallipoli that has been open for two and a half years and is still wildly popular. It features the stories of six individuals involved in this WWI battle (soldiers, commanders, and a nurse) with lots of photos and commentary from journals and letters. But the most striking thing about it is the six human figures, 2.5 times life size, that are rendered realistically down to the hairs on their head.  

 

BLENHEIM AREA

On Saturday, we flew from Wellington to Blenheim which is about 20 minutes in the air, but far preferable to the often rough crossing of the Cook Strait which takes three to four hours. At Blenheim we were met by a chatty driver, named Matty. A young man who grew up on a vineyard nearby, he now works as a driver and boat captain for one of the local firms. His grandfather had been a sheep farmer, but when grape growing became popular in the late 70’s and early 80’s, he converted his land from sheep to grapes. Today the family sells all their grapes to one of the big vintners. Matty took us the roughly 20 minute drive from the airport to Picton, a small burg where we would get the water taxi out to our hotel on the Queen Charlotte Sound.  

 

We had a couple hours to wait before our scheduled taxi on the Cougar Line and it was lunchtime. We chose a café on the street facing the beach and enjoyed fish and chips and fish cakes. It was sunny and quite warm until a stiff breeze came up, chilling us considerably. We wandered the short side streets checking out the shops and restaurants. Cruise ships dock here, which explained the unexpected number of gift and souvenir shops and the many small restaurants.

The Cougar 1 could accommodate up to 28 people if some sat outside. We were happily inside for the 35-minute trip. The wind raised a few whitecaps making the trip rocky for a bit, but then the boat just bumped along until we reached the dock at Bay of Many Coves.    

This is a secluded woodsy property of small buildings clustered up the steep hillside. Dinner several levels above the waterfront was lovely and the whole place is very peaceful. The busy season starts in November and there were only a few other guests.

The rest of the day we mostly vegged out—reading, gazing at the view, and enjoying the tasty meals and slower pace.

Note:  Te Papa photos are from web; other photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved).

Down Under: Dining in Wellington

MEALS IN WELLINGTON  We found Wellington to be a great food city. There are more restaurants here per capita than in New York, a fact cited to us several times.  With our short visit, we only scratched the surface of good eating.

Artisan. The weather was so miserable our first evening that we opted to eat in the hotel dining room called Artisan. We were pleasantly surprised at how good the food was. We started with some mixed olives and two breads with a flight of four olive oils. The olives were lovely, the olive oils good, but the so-called artisanal bread disappointing. Our next courses were superb; both my smoked cheddar soufflé with cherry tomatoes and spinach and the Chief Penguin’s smoked salmon. We like small plates rather than large entrees and often order these smaller, usually lighter, dishes. My soufflé wasn’t light, but it was exquisite!

Ombra. The concierge in our hotel has been most helpful and enthusiastically recommended several restaurants. We’ve been taking him up on them and today’s lunch was at a casual Italian bistro. We ordered the gorganzola picante with walnuts and honey, gnocchi with cheese and lamb ragu, and fritto misto. Everything was delicious, but especially the gnocchi. To top it off we had three chocolate truffles: coconut, lemongrass and hazelnut.  

 

Whitebait. Dinner here was by far the best meal we’ve had in New Zealand. It’s on the waterfront and the dining room is simple with bare wood tables and high back fabric-covered chairs in muted shades of gray, blue, and aqua. Yvette and Josephine gave us friendly service and everything we ordered was not only beautifully presented, but superb. This is sophisticated dining. We started with anchovy toasts and smoked eel mini tacos (for the C.P. who likes eel) followed by snapper filet on slices of preserved Meyer lemon topped with celeriac for me and for him, lemon sole topped with a mix of peas and beans (very green), and a seasonal citrus salad with fennel, pistachios, and bits of green olive. The salad was reminiscent of a similar salad served at Ports of Italy in Boothbay Harbor, Maine, but more elegant, although I’d leave out the olives. The chefs here are fond of salty tastes.  

 

Chow. Our hosts at Te Papa tooks us to this Chinese place for lunch, which was perfect for our group of five. We ordered seven or eight dishes which were all small platters with five or six pieces including fish cakes, sesame crusted seared tuna, two kinds of dumplings, and chicken satay. Everything was tasty, but could have been spicier for this twosome.

 

Noble Rot Wine Bar.  For our last evening, we dined at Noble Rot, a very happening place recommended again by the hotel concierge.  He adopted us and seemed to eagerly wait our reporting back after each meal.  The front bar and high tables were fully occupied when we arrived, but fortunately for us shorties and oldsters, there were tables  of normal height in the side room.  Most were empty at first, but by the time we left all but one was taken.

With our wine (they have an extensive list of wines by the glass), we started with some chorizo and pecorino cheese with black truffle and accompaniments and then moved on to a couple entrees.  The Chief Penguin had the chicken with parsnips and mushrooms which had been done sous vide and was marvelously tender and lovely.  I had the fish of the day which was a local white fish served with capers and some roasted cauliflower and a bit of sauce on the side.  Also lovely.  Being chocoholics (at least I am), we had a dark chocolate truffle each.

 

Note:  All photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved).  Header photo is gnocchi with lamb ragu and Parmesan.

Down Under: Wellington in the Sun

TRAMPING AROUND WELLINGTON

Botanic Garden

Thursday was clear and almost cold (50 degrees), but a good morning to walk. Our first destination was the cable car up to the botanic garden. Interestingly, since the incline is very steep, some affluent individuals have their own private cable cars to deliver them to their homes. This public one takes only about five minutes, makes a couple stops along the way, and ends at the Cable Car Museum and the entrance to the Wellington Botanic Garden. We wandered in the museum, took our pictures with period hats and then were on to the garden.    

It was quiet and lovely and full of trees and plants native to this country. It’s also very well signed for specific locales within the garden as well as with plaques identifying most of the flora. We headed for the Lady Norwood Rose Garden which was said to be about a 20-minute walk. It took us longer, partly because I kept stopping to take pictures. The rose garden is probably glorious when in full bloom; today there were just a few rogue blooms, early budders.  

Bolton Street Cemetery

From the garden, you can enter the historic Bolton Street Cemetery which was in use until 1892. Founded in 1842, the original intent was that it be a cemetery for all religions and all people. It ended up being divided in three parts: Anglican, Jewish, and Public; the Catholics already had a cemetery elsewhere in Wellington. As you walk the main path, there are side paths that you can take deeper into the various sections. It’s a fascinating glimpse at the history of the city, its famous politicians and successful merchants, and the children who died of one disease or another, diphtheria and scarlet fever being two examples. Like the botanic garden, it’s a peaceful spot and we saw no one else on our walk.  

 

 

Note the understated summation of her life.

 

 

 

 

Wellington is a clean, compact city and very walkable. We like it a lot and have done almost all our wandering thus far on foot. By the end of this day with all our tramping around, we had reached 20,000 plus steps or eight miles!

Note:  All photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved).

 

 

Down Under: On the Road to Wellington

DRIVING SOUTH TO WELLINGTON

On Wednesday, we left Napier and drove south to Wellington. A distance of about 280 km and estimated to take 4 hours or so. The main routes here are practically all two-lane roads so you always have traffic coming toward you. The first hour of the trip was challenging for the driver, simply for the number of roundabouts where he had to always remember stay left and then choose the appropriate exit. Between Napier and Hastings and a few other towns around Hawke Bay, there was a fair amount of traffic added to the mix. The sky was mostly clear and then began the off and on heavy showers that plagued us all the way to Wellington. But when it wasn’t raining, I gazed out at the rolling hills and green grass and saw three separate rainbows, one complete at both ends!

I haven’t yet been to Ireland, but New Zealand is very green, layers of green of different shades (grass green to hunter, emerald, and yellow green) that intermix from ground level to the trees and then the hillsides and peaks.

We brought our own new GPS from home (loaded with New Zealand maps), and we rented a Kruse device. Mr. Kruse’s device can also be used for navigation, but mostly it’s intended to provide history and background about the towns and villages along the route. When he doesn’t have info to provide, you can set it for background music (after awhile we turned this off, not caring for his selection).

We went through several market towns, Masterton, Carterton, and Featherston, which provide services for the neighboring farms, mostly sheep farms. Masterton is famous for hosting an annual sheep-shearing contest that attracts shearers from all over the world. Downtown Masterton was a bit of a time warp feeling like the 1950’s. Dining options were limited to Food for Thought, a cafeteria; Chan’s, a Chinese takeout restaurant; a fried chicken fast food place; and the Ten o’ Clock Cookie, a bakery and café all in one. The cookie restaurant looked like the best option and was filled with mothers and children and a few grandparents with kids, it being spring break week.

We snagged one of the remaining tables and after ordering and getting our food at the counter, tucked into a beef and mushroom pie (very good!) and a Philly beef and cheese pie along with some fresh fruit and a couple of cute mini cupcakes which were irresistible at the checkout station. Both Carterton and Featherston looked a bit more prosperous and one had a center island on the main drag with some lovely old deciduous trees and then a stand of grand old palms.

The rain had stopped while we walked to lunch, but as soon as we began the last leg of the trip, it poured hard. And continued to do so all the way up and over the Rimutaka Range with its narrow twisting roads,  no shoulder to speak of, and very sharp turns. Higher and higher we climbed (views would have been fantastic on a clear day, but mostly it was mist) until we reached the peak at just over 3,000 feet, and then started down the other side.

Almost immediately, the weather was better and the mountainsides were bright with yellow gorse, lots of it. The final 20 km into Wellington was along a short span of motorway (divided road with real exits);  fortunately, the distance to Budget Rental to drop off the car upon exiting was fairly short. Even better, the young woman who dealt with the car kindly offered to drive us to our hotel in said rental car! This offer we quickly accepted.

Our hotel room is large and pleasant with a view of a garden below. But, it’s pouring again so we have not yet ventured outside. Soon we will, with our umbrellas!

We did head out for a short walk in the heavy rain and were mystified to see so many people on the street without umbrellas. A woman informed us that it’s so regularly windy here that people don’t bother carrying them. It wasn’t windy then, but very wet; we were very glad we had our umbrellas!

Note: All photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved).  Header photo is part of a mural near the transit yard.