Wellington, The Windy City or Te Upoko o Te Ika a Mau

Geographically it is a fascinating city with a turbulent history of earthquakes  and tsunamis. Sadly there is a tension at the moment because of horrendous recent events in the southern hemisphere but I do not want this to detract from a what is indeed architecturally a city which displays an eclectic mix of buildings since it started to expand some 150 years ago , a city worth spending at least a few days to discover its delights.

However only one evening and one morning to see what I can pack in!

Maori legends date back as far as 950 AD when Kupe first discovered Wellington. In the 1840s european settlers began to arrive and colonise the region. Later the seat of government of New Zealand would move from Auckland to Wellington, to become the capital city as it remains today.

The harbour that surrounds Wellington city, and the greater Wellington region, have been known by several names throughout history. Maori legends name the greater Wellington region as "Te Upoko o Te Ika a Maui" or "the Head of Maui's fish".

Kupe is believed to be the first Polynesian explorer to come to Wellington in 950 AD. He was followed by Tara, who named the area "Whanganui-a-Tara" or "the great harbour of Tara".

In 1773 Captain Cook first anchored in Wellington harbour. The harbour was later charted in 1826 by Captain Herd who named it Port Nicholson, in honour of John Nicholson, a harbour-master of Port Jackson, New South Wales.

In 1839, when the first European settlers arrived by ship in Wellington harbour, they found a number of Māori settlements on its shores. These were predominantly of the Taranaki Whanui and Ngati Toa tribes who, because of their continuous occupation and rights through ohaki (gifting) and conquest, remain the recognised tangata whenua (people of the land) of Wellington.

In 1840 the directors of the New Zealand Company settled on the name Wellington. The name was chosen in order to express their gratitude to the Duke of Wellington, a supporter of the company in England.

Throughout its history, Wellington has also been a city of commerce, with a busy port and airport, and thriving industrial and commercial sector. The opening up of the economy to international competition in the 1980s led to the loss of many heavy manufacturing enterprises. In their place, new sunrise industries have appeared including 'Wellywood' - New Zealand's film capital where Peter Jackson has state-of-the-art film production facilities.

The site of the New Zealand Parliament buildings  exemplifies  the eclectic mix of styles sitting side by side.  They consist of Parliament House, the Executive Wing (known colloquially as "The Beehive" opened by the Queen in 1977), the Parliamentary Library and Bowen House.

Local transport consists of the "Cable Car" and a system of  "trolley buses"  similar to those which I travelled on as a child in Glasgow.

All around the centre of the city residential homes are built into the very steep cliffs........... some individual houses even having their own personal "cable car".  I wonder how this might work in Altea Mike?

The fascinating part for me was learning of its geographical history. I will preface all of this by saying recent events really bring to the fore all of the dangers and all residents of the city, children and adults alike, grow up learning about such forces. In my mind it begs the question, why do people continue to live in such potentially hazardous areas?  Dave, the same as folks living along the San Andreas fault in California?

 
The Wellington fault is one of the longest active  onshore faults in New Zealand. It starts in the Cook Strait and runs through the Bay of Plenty. Everyone driving on the motorway crosses it. 

The movement of the Wairarapa fault in 1855  tilted the coastline 1.5 metres and the state highway and the railway line now sits along that terrace. 

The Prime Minister’s house is alongside it and the Cook Strait Ferries berth on top of it. 

If this fault moves  it won’t just be up or down, they move sideways as well. Also in 1855 the southern end of the Rimutaka Range was uplifted by the height of a two-storey building. 

The Pacific Plate is being buckled as  the Australian Plate  is dragged below it  and the shape of New Zealand is changing and could look like this an estimated 4 million years from now. Please note not very soon! 

Blame it on the Cook Strait, The prevailing north-west winds accelerate through the strait giving on average 173 days of winds over 60kph(32 knots). Southern winds also intensify through this narrow gap giving Wellington the strongest winds on record in New Zealand.  You could see that this young woman was actively battling her way along the street into a  strong headwind.

During the Wahine storm in 1968 gusts reached 270kph (145 knots)…that’s double hurricane force! Wind measuring equipment at the airport was destroyed as wellington experienced the most intense storm ever recorded, one which caused the grounding of the inter-island ferry on Barret Reef with the loss of 51 lives. 

Please note the short size of the runway for my lift off back to Sydney! I had also clocked from my forrays outside the bus that the winds were indeed very strong! An interesting flight ahead? mmmmmmm!