I said goodbye to Taupo yesterday, but I will be back. It is such a beautiful place and with so much to do outside. Anyways, I had a very long bus ride. There was a big accident that closed the highway for a couple hours. We were 2 hours late getting into Wellington (8 hours on the bus). Anyways, one I got to Wellington, I took the cable car up to the top of the Botanical Gardens and had a lovely walk down. The cable car is apparently one of the 'must-do' activities, but I just don't get it. Anyways, back at the hostel I ran into Fia once again (three hostels in a row now). She is going to settle a bit in Wellington, hopefully get a job.
Today when I got up, I was not impressed. It was raining. So I headed out to go check out the Parliament buildings (I know, Poli Sci geek). I put on my soft shell, but it has now soaked through, I will be returning to find my gore-tex. Anyways, the tour of the parliament buildings were pretty interesting. NZ has such a similar history to us, and yet there government is now so different. They only have a single house now, and have been on a proportional electoral system for almost ten years (therefore, minority governments and eight political parties in the house). Interestingly enough though, both their speaker and the PM are women. The real reason I went to Parliament was to see what may be the ugliest public building ever. There Parliament is pretty traditional, a lot like our legislatures and such (although no green roof). But the building next door where all the cabinet ministers' offices and such are is called the beehive. A fine example of ugly, ugly 70s architecture. It looks just like a beehive (which I must say is not a good look for a building). Unfortunately no pictures as it is raining beyond belief. Wellington is a lot like Victoria though, just better shopping. This afternoon I am going to Te Papa (the national museum) with some girls from the hostel and then tomorrow or Friday I am heading down to the south island and hopefully off to climb. Talk to you all soon. Happy Birthdays Amanda and Halina!
I said goodbye to Taupo yesterday, but I will be back. It is such a beautiful place and with so much to do outside. Anyways, I had a very long bus ride. There was a big accident that closed the highway for a couple hours. We were 2 hours late getting into Wellington (8 hours on the bus). Anyways, one I got to Wellington, I took the cable car up to the top of the Botanical Gardens and had a lovely walk down. The cable car is apparently one of the 'must-do' activities, but I just don't get it. Anyways, back at the hostel I ran into Fia once again (three hostels in a row now). She is going to settle a bit in Wellington, hopefully get a job. 
Today when I got up, I was not impressed. It was raining. So I headed out to go check out the Parliament buildings (I know, Poli Sci geek). I put on my soft shell, but it has now soaked through, I will be returning to find my gore-tex. Anyways, the tour of the parliament buildings were pretty interesting. NZ has such a similar history to us, and yet there government is now so different. They only have a single house now, and have been on a proportional electoral system for almost ten years (therefore, minority governments and eight political parties in the house). Interestingly enough though, both their speaker and the PM are women. The real reason I went to Parliament was to see what may be the ugliest public building ever. There Parliament is pretty traditional, a lot like our legislatures and such (although no green roof). But the building next door where all the cabinet ministers' offices and such are is called the beehive. A fine example of ugly, ugly 70s architecture. It looks just like a beehive (which I must say is not a good look for a building). Unfortunately no pictures as it is raining beyond belief. Wellington is a lot like Victoria though, just better shopping. This afternoon I am going to Te Papa (the national museum) with some girls from the hostel and then tomorrow or Friday I am heading down to the south island and hopefully off to climb. Talk to you all soon. Happy Birthdays Amanda and Halina!
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