Wellington - Porirua

The capital of New Zealand - Wellington - has a significant issue with cars and parking spaces. I actually wanted to go to the Museum of New Zealand, which is said to be excellent, but you can only park there for an hour. Eventually, I first drove to a viewpoint at a wind turbine, but it was quite cloudy, and then I parked my car a bit outside the city center at the Cable Car station, where the maximum parking duration with a ticket was indeed 4 hours.

Instead of going to the Museum of New Zealand, I went to the government district, as there are guided tours of the government buildings every day. I hadn’t made a reservation and, of course, all the tours for the day were already full, but if you ask nicely, it can work wonders: The guide just took me along on the tour anyway, since one more person doesn’t really make a difference.

The tour began in the executive wing, known as the Beehive. This is the main entrance to Parliament and houses, among other things, the offices of the Prime Minister and Cabinet ministers, as well as the Cabinet room. There we looked at the banquet hall, which might be familiar to New Zealanders from press conferences.

In the Parliament building, we viewed the chamber and several event rooms before we could take a short look into the parliamentary library. We returned to the Parliament building through the gallery, which was an internal parking lot in the 1990s, and from there back to the Beehive. I really enjoyed the tour!

Unfortunately, there wasn't much time left until my parking ticket expired. I strolled a bit through the streets and visited the planetarium. On Tuesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, they have stargazing sessions with telescopes, and I was hoping to see the comet again. Unfortunately, my fears were confirmed: the stargazing sessions only take place in good weather (when the sky is cloudy, you can't see stars, not even with a telescope), and the weather forecast for the evening predicted not only clouds but also rain. But on my way from the North Island to the South Island, I'll be passing through Wellington again, maybe I'll hit one of those three days, luck out with the weather, and still have time for the museum.

In the afternoon, I only managed to cover about 30 km more before I set up my camp at a river mouth in Porirua.