Wellington - Playground by the Sea
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| The beach near Eastbourne Village / Days Bay |
Last weekend we ventured outside of Wellington. We don't have a car yet so just going for a drive isn't something we do. Right outside of our building is a MEVO charging station well-stocked with electric Audis. I've started the application process with them for quick runabouts or all day adventuring. Still, we will score a car pretty soon... New Zealand is simply too beautiful not to explore.
Back to last weekend... we caught the East West Ferry to Days Bay. The Ferry terminal is at the wharf where we live so it couldn't be easier. It's 11.00 per person, one way and takes you across Wellington Harbour. The ferry is a two-story catamaran that holds around 80 people. There's a viewing deck with seats up top, and cover underneath including a bar for the partiers among us. It was a good day for a ride across the harbour -- sunny and warm (for winter) with virtually no chop on the waves. Ours was an impromptu voyage that we decided while eating breakfast at "Dockside" restaurant, also on the Wharf. We were determined to leave the city for some nature and over breakfast we narrowed our options down to a bus (Newtown area), a train (Paraparaumu on the Kapiti Coast), or a ferry to wherever it goes.... we took the ferry option for Days Bay / Eastbourne Village advertised as "Wellington's Playground by the Sea".
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| Julie having breakfast at Dockside. Salmon Benedict, yum |
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| Maori statue at the entrance to Matiu / Somes Island. |
Normandale Legend says Kupe, the semi-legendary first navigator to reach New Zealand (and get home again with reports of the new land) named it after one his two daughters. That all happened about 1000 years ago and the legend itself is in dispute. Daughters or Nieces seems to be the drama?
In 1839 the island was renamed after Joseph Somes, the (New Zealand) company's deputy-governor and financier at the time. In 1997 however, the New Zealand Geographic Board assigned the official bilingual name of Matiu/Somes in recognition of the island's colourful European AND Māori histories.
Matiu/Somes became part of Lower Hutt (Valley) in 1989 and came under the full control of the Department of Conservation as a scientific and historic reserve in August 1995. The island is free of introduced mammalian predators (such as stoats a/k/a mean little weasel), an unusual state for an island so close to an urban centre.
Upon disembarking you go through a bio-scan of sorts ensuring you are not introducing any non-native plants or animals to the ecosystem. The absence of any predators has allowed for the re-introduction of sensitive species and created a world full of amazing birds, flora and fauna.
Side note: There are a good number of islands in the region of New Zealand (Zealandia) and in the cases, where humans have not been able to colonise, there is a far different array of species many of which are extinct on the main North and South Islands.
In any event, we didn’t get off the boat but will definitely make it back soon — probably in summer.
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| Julie under cover on the ferry |
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| Ferries to the right, Dockside restaurant straight ahead |
Forty-Five minutes after leaving Welly we arrived at Days Bay. First impressions were definitely about how quiet it was. The constant hum of the city becomes a new baseline for quiet and until you get out and away you really don't realise how much noise you live with.... The area near the ferry wharf is just a few buildings consisting of a few coffee shops, a few restaurants, and a few galleries -- there really isn't much more there. There are homes scattered into the hillside, all with extraordinary views of the harbour, Somes/Maitu island, and Welly in the distance. We walked along the beach for a good while and then checked out the galleries in town. The galleries were top-notch to be sure. Walking about, we were struck by the wide variety of flowering plants all along Marine Drive. It's the dead of winter and it's great to see plants flourishing year-round in the unusual climate that is New Zealand. The waters are swimmable in warmer weather and the beaches consist mostly of finely crushed shells, sand (Parrot Fish poop) and some volcanic remnants. Shelling is great as is lounging about.
It's a fifteen minute walk to Eastbourne Village so we struck out. Half way there the beach turned to wave-worn rocks with a nice array of larger shells. Moments later sea grasses covered the dunes above the beach making for a completely different experience. (Julie managed a nap in the grasses on our return to the wharf a few hours later.) Arriving in Eastbourne Village we were generally unimpressed. It's clear the whole area is geared to summer tourism and beach goers as evidenced by the number of ice cream shops along the village square. Not much to the area at all, still, it's a great an easy escape from Welly anytime we feel like getting into nature.
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| Some sort of sea vegetation we quickly proclaimed to be "Dead Pirate Hand" |
We ferried back to Welly in time for the fireworks celebrating the Maori New Year ("Matariki"). Our place facing the harbour was the perfect spot to watch the fireworks. They'd been delayed a week due to a whale that frolicked in the harbour - no reason to scare a whale when every week has a weekend for fireworks.
When Julie left EY - Sydney, one of the many gifts she received was a nice bottle of champagne. I don't rally like champers too much --- it always seems like a fun, special, celebration idea but it seldom measures up. This bottle, on our rooftop deck, in the cool night of a Welly winter was really good. Try it if you like bubbles....
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| Jim Dewar - I'm looking at you! |
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| Rooftop bubbles and fireworks |
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