Happy Valentine's Day!
Thursday February 14 started cloudy but by mid-morning the sun was out and it turned into another beautiful day (though a bit windy by the water). High of 23C.
We took a different route into town, stopping for an excellent Red Rabbit coffee at Frank's coffee.
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| Second floor at Frank's- busy place |
We had wanted to see the Parliament Buildings and, fortuitously, as we arrived, a tour which runs hourly for part of the day was just about to start. The tour took us to three buildings-- "the Beehive"(Executive Wing), where the Prime Minister and Cabinet have offices and where the cabinet meets; Parliament House (where the House of Representatives sits) and the Parliamentary Library.
Parliament moved from Auckland to Wellington in 1865, when Wellington became the capital of New Zealand. There was a great fire in 1907 that destroyed the original Parliament buildings- only the Library remained. In 1979, the Beehive was built. In 1991, work began to renovate and strengthen Parliament House and the Parliamentary Library due to earthquake risk. Parliament reoccupied the buildings in 1996.
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| The Beehive |
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| The Beehive is connected to the Parliament House |
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| The Parliament House is also connected to the Parliamentary Library |
We could not take pictures inside of any of the buildings (a real shame). The Beehive is very modern and airy. Parliament House reminded us of the Ontario Legislature and the House of Commons-- beautiful stained glass windows; lots of committee rooms. There is a wonderful atrium in Parliament House (built as part of the 1990s renovations), with lots of art. We also saw the base isolators in the basement that will stop damage from any earthquake. These were designed by a New Zealander, and we also saw them at Te Papa (the National Museum).
In our tour, we saw the Legislative Council Chamber which housed the former Upper House (called the Legislative Council), which was in regular use from 1865 to 1951 when the Upper House was abolished!! Apparently, for the prior 20 years, the Upper House had merely rubber stamped bills and made no amendments. The Council originally had 14 members rising to 54 members at the time it was abolished. The Executive had the authority to add members, which it did just before the Upper House was abolished. The last group of appointees were known as the suicide squad as they were appointed to specifically vote for abolition. Today the Chamber is used for the State Opening of Parliament after each election and also used for a wide range of functions hosted by members of Parliament. Our tour guide said she always gets comments from Canadians about the successful abolition of the Upper House (always favourable to its abolition).
We also learned that New Zealand got its form of Proportional Representation back in 1996. There is a coalition government in power today, led by the Labour Party.
At the end of the tour, Question Time (like our Question Period) was just beginning. We sat in for about 10 minutes. The House of Representatives sits on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays during the session. Unfortunately, we were told that the Prime Minister does not usually appear on Thursdays. We saw the Deputy Prime Minister take a few questions. The strangest part of the process is that 12 questions are prepared for each day and given to the Government for their response. The public is also handed a list of these questions before entering the Chamber. The government responds and then the opposition can ask a few supplementary questions on the same topic as the main question. The main questions were pretty softball. Lots of fun.
We really enjoyed the tour. Neither of us had realised that New Zealand has had no Upper House since 1951!!
After the tour, we noticed a street named for Kate Sheppard, the prominent suffragette, whose picture is on the $10 bill.
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| Kate Sheppard Place and the Backbencher Bar |
We passed a beautiful flowering tree in front of another historic building, which houses the Faculty of Law, University of Wellington.
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| An electric bus |
The Supreme Court building was located nearby. It came into existence on January 1, 2004 and replaced the right of appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC), based in London (in Canada, our Supreme Court was subject to appeal to the JCPC from 1875-1949). New Zealand Judges must retire at 70. The maximum bench under statute is six judges. The modern building where the Court is now housed was opened in January 2010 by Prince William.
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| Supreme Court building |
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| Another side of the Supreme Court |
We stopped at one of the locations of the Wellington Sea Market for some fish and chips. The fish was great looking and it was clearly a popular place for locals to buy fish.
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| Gorgeous looking fish at the Wellington Seamarket |
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| Outside of the fish store |
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| With our fish and chips |
We passed by a modern statute of Katherine Mansfield (1888-1923), the short story writer, who was born in Wellington.
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"A celebration of Wellington-born Katherine Mansfield Innovator of the Modernist Short Story"
Woman of Words- by sculptor Virginia King 2013 |
We checked out the New Zealand Portrait Gallery housed in a renovated shed on the waterfront. However, they were in the midst of installing a new show, and there was not much to see.
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| The Portrait Gallery |
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| Great saying outside Mojo coffee café on the waterfront |
We have really enjoyed the Wellington waterfront. Lots of activity and a gorgeous setting.
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| On the Waterfront |
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| Yarn bombing |
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| Kupe Raiatea, the Explorer, his Wife, Hine Te Aparangi, and Pekahounrangi, the Tohunga, Sight Aoteroa, New Zealand from their Canoe Matahourua. - created in plaster by William Trethewey and featured at the 1940 Centennial Exhibit. Cast in Bronze as a millennium project and unveiled on March 4, 2000 as a "Tribute to all who have come to these Shores". |
We hung out in the sun and watched the Thursday evening salsa class get going. Lots of fun.
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| Salsa class on the waterfront |
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| Lantern Terra Cotta Warriors starting to light up |
We headed to Mr Go's- a busy asian hawker street food restaurant for a bite to eat. We shared a few dishes, including some prawns.
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| At Mr. Go's |
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| Alain and the prawns |
The food was tasty but the service erratic.
After dinner, we hurried over to Fidel's on Cuba Street to meet my old friend Art and his wife Suzanne from Vancouver/Galiano Island. Through signing a letter a few days ago on Facebook supporting the Varsity (U of T student newspaper) against Doug Ford's nefarious move to allow students to opt-out of non-tuition fees deemed "non-essential" by their university. I had mentioned in a post that I had signed the letter from Napier, New Zealand. Art replied that he was going to be in Napier a few days later. We missed each other in Napier, though we ended up taking the same wine tour with the same tour guide. Art and Suzanne were arriving in Wellington at around 8:00 p.m. and this was the only time we could get together as we head out early on February 15 for Nelson. A total small world experience.
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| Alain, Art, Suzanne and me at Fidel's |
It was a lovely evening and a great way to wrap up our visit to Wellington.
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