An Odyssey Down Under: Australia and New Zealand Day 15

Thursday, February 20th

Our day began with a walk to New Zealand’s parliament buildings in Wellington. We had a docent who led us on a tour. No photos are allowed inside the buildings. The pictures I have are from our walk and outside the buildings.

The crosswalk signal is Kate Sheppard, a leader of the Women’s suffrage movement.


After our tour of parliament, we walked over to the Supreme Court of New Zealand. The court was in session so we couldn’t tour the chambers but had an informative talk in the lobby area. There were windows where we could peek in and see the lawyers and judges. It was an interesting morning.

Below are pictures from inside the old Supreme Court building. We were allowed to take pictures in here.

We walked to the Thistle Inn for lunch. It is New Zealand’s oldest surviving tavern, 1840, and is operating from its original site! The sea used to be in front of the tavern but due to earthquakes and land reclamation the shoreline is now several blocks away.

Our afternoon was free so a few of us took the cable car up to visit the Wellington Botanic Garden.

The garden was established in 1868. We enjoyed strolling through its gardens and along the many paths.

As we left the Botanic garden, we walked through the Bolton Street Cemetery. It is Wellington’s oldest cemetery which dates back to 1840.

From the garden we walked toward Wellington’s harbor and enjoyed a beverage and then had a delicious meal at a nearby restaurant with some of our group.

At one point we walked through Wellington’s train station. It was great to see the reference to Harry Potter with the Platform 9 3/4.

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