📷 Somewhere on the Edge of the World. New Zealand. Part 6

sharker (65)in TravelFeed • 4 years ago

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After the noise and din of the Hobbiton Shire, I want peace and quiet. This is plenty to get at Hamurana Springs Nature Reserve. Huge sequoias brought from North America over a hundred years ago grow here. In addition, you can sit here on the shores of a cold lake filled with underground springs (therefore its temperature is always about ten degrees Celsius) and stare at the “dancing sands” at the bottom.

Almost on the southernmost edge of the North Island there is the capital of New Zealand — the city of Wellington. This is the southernmost capital in the world, up to Antarctica about three and a half thousand kilometers.

An excellent view opens from Mount Victoria, just keep in mind that there is often a strong wind, and hold your hats tight — I almost lost my baseball cap here.

Somewhere here, on the slopes of Mount Victoria, the hobbits were hiding from the Nazguls.

I did not notice a clearly expressed historical center of the city, this is a pile of various styles and colors, which at the same time looks pretty good.

And the most impressive thing for me was the exhibition in the Te Papa Museum, dedicated to the Battle of Gallipoli, in which New Zealanders fought during the First World War. I did not know what I would see there, so the exposition was simply stunning. Imagine that you go into the dark room in which there is a statue of a soldier...

The huge figure of a man dressed in a dirty uniform, his shoes are worn, his hands are damaged, each hair on his hands and fingerprints can be seen. Yes, he even has a lively look... And in the next room we can read his biography — where he was born, where studied, dreamed about... History came to life. There are several halls with such installations and from each one my heart begins to ache.

Te Papa Museum has many interesting exhibitions about nature, history, art, which is very interesting, and admission is free.

In the city, when we got there, the Homegrown music festival was held and many young people wandered around the center. At that moment I wear a T-shirt, a fleece jacket and a jacket, and they... well, you see them. And this is not the easiest outfit. Either they like and got used to such weather, or is it just for the sake of beauty?

The sunset is worth seeing at a point called Moa Point near Tarakena Bay. There are very picturesque rocks that go into the water, and there are no crowds of photographers — most likely you will be there completely alone.

Tired and happy, we returned to the hotel after a long walk around the city. And then our dear guide asked: "Do you want to look at the petrified mountain trolls?"... What could we say? Of course we wanted to!