New Zealand's San Francisco

San Francisco is 10849 km away, but it has a lot in common with Wellington. Both are located on a tectonic fault line. Nestled in hills, both cities have a cable car. Only when it rains in Wellington does it resemble the Norwegian city of Bergen, which also has a cable car.

After a delicious breakfast with a great view, we set off. Today is all about sightseeing. We only have today because we have to move on tomorrow.

First stop, the cable car.

💡Built in 1902, it takes its passengers to the 122 meters high botanical garden via 4 stations.

A quick look at the cable car museum reveals the beginnings of the railway here.

Even today, it is not only used by tourists but also by locals.

From the cable car terminus, you have a great view of Wellington.

Over the downhill walk, past pine trees,

a rock garden,

a piece of rainforest, the Lady Norwood Rose Garden

with beautifully fragrant roses.

Next to it is a cricket field (where a training match was taking place). We then went to the Parliament via an old cemetery.

Lovingly called "beehive" by the New Zealanders.

Next stop, the Museum of New Zealand.

For this, we had to walk from Parliament towards the harbor,

and then go over the "Waterfront" (where we oiled our throats)

to get to the museum.

💡The museum, also known as Te Papa Tongarewa (Maori), is a futuristic building constructed in 1998 for NZ$317 million.

It displays the history and craftsmanship of the Maori people, as well as everything about the life, people, landscape of New Zealand, and the European settlement.

Unfortunately, we only had an hour because the museum closes at 6:00 PM.

Or maybe it's a good thing because my feet were starting to hurt and my stomach was rumbling. Time to think about what we're going to eat today. We chose Indian food.

I've never had Indian food before. Armed with my Google translator, I spent 20 minutes trying to figure out what to order. In the meantime, Carsten had already made friends with our neighbor Belinda, an American from Kansas, and I ended up ordering the same dish as her. A menu with pictures would definitely be more tourist-friendly. It was delicious but spicy.