What a fun day! It was so spectacular we need two posts to tell you about it!
Wellington has been New Zealand’s capital since 1865. Located between Cook Straight, which connects the Tasman Sea to the South Pacific Ocean and is considered one of the most dangerous and unpredictable bodies of water in the world, and the Remutaka Mountain Range, Wellington is home to two universities, lots of history, and tons of great shopping. More than half of its population of 200,000 are between the ages of 18 and 49. Lonely Planet recently called it “the coolest little capital in the world.” In 2016 Mercer’s Quality of Living Survey ranked it the 12th most livable city in the world.
On the down side, it sites o the Wellington fault line, where the Indo-Australian tectonic plate meets the Pacific plate, making it prone to significant earth quakes. The most recent was a 6.2 that hit in 2016. The most severe was an 8.2 quake that occurred in 1855. That quake displaced nearly 2,000 square miles of land, the largest displacement along a vertical fault line ever recorded anywhere. In that quake the ground in some areas were raised as much as 20 feet. Other pieces of ground were moved horizontally as much as 60 feet. The whole bayfront area was created by this quake – the water used to come up 5-6 blocks from where it is now.
We boarded a bus and headed to Pencarrow Station, New Zealand’s first sheep farm. The farm itself wasn’t that interesting, but the scenery along the way and the road we had to travel to get there made the drive worthwhile (what is it with these cruise excursions and harrowing drives????).
We drove along the Storm Coast Highway, hugging the Pacific Ocean shoreline. Winds in this area average 50-70 mph, and today was a 50+ day. Our driver said anything less than 50 is referred to as a “Wellington breeze.” Waves in this area can reach 25 feet. They relentlessly pounded the shore as we drove along. Along the way we passed New Zealand’s first ever lighthouse, and one that was manned by the first and only woman to be a lighthouse keeper. In 1851 the town’s governor promised to build a lighthouse and keeper’s home. By 1852 only a temporary keeper’s cottage had been built, with a light in the window. George and Mary Jane moved in and kept that light going until George died in a boating accident in 1855. A pregnant Mary Jane continued lighthouse duties and was the first to shine the light when the real lighthouse was finally operational on January 1, 1859. Mary Jane stayed on until 1865 and raised her six children there alone.
The highway ends at a private dirt road. Our driver opened the gate and continued on until he reached the base of steep and windy mountain road, with hairpin turns not designed with a full-size tour bus in mind! Our driver expertly maneuvered the turns, the front of the bus hanging over the edge of some to ensure a wide enough turning radius for some corners, using 3-point turns to make it around others. One the way back down we could hear the front of the bus bottoming out against the gravity of the steep grade.
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