I woke up very early to catch a 6:45am flight from Christchurch to Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand, located right on the southern tip of the North Island. There are no direct road links between the two islands, only a car ferry, but most rental car companies do not allow people to take rental cars on the ferry. The ferry is also very expensive (more expensive than the flight). Today I'd be flying on Jetstar, an Australian low-cost carrier with not the best reputation, but luckily it would only be a 50m hop over the Cook Straight to Wellington.

I took an Uber to Christchurch Airport. The ride only took about 15 minutes since there was no traffic at such an early hour. Flights in New Zealand were a bit strange at the moment because there had been severe flooding in Auckland a couple of days ago due to heavy rain, and the airport had been closed. I was able to see a China Airlines A350 that had been diverted to Christchurch a couple days earlier and was still at the airport.

The ticket I bought had included a meal, and the flight was so short that the only food was banana bread, which was individually wrapped so I saved my piece for later. It was a nice short flight to Wellington and we only landed a few minutes late. Upon landing I walked out into the main atrium and saw some cool Lord of the Rings artwork in the main atrium hanging from the ceiling.

I went to the rental car counter and signed the rental agreement for a car for the next week. I had booked the "mystery" car option with Budget since it was the cheapest, and I ended up getting a red Toyota RAV4, exactly like Papa Paul has but with the steering wheel on the opposite side. I think the bigger car would be an upgrade but I'd actually prefer a smaller car because it is easier to park in cities, and at least the Kia Stonic I had last week got really good gas mileage. At Hertz in Christchurch the woman had said it was required by law that she tells me some things about driving in New Zealand and gave me a pamphlet, but Budget in Wellington did no such thing, they were eager to get me on my way (despite no line at 8am).

I headed into Wellington to grab a coffee and hang out until the National Museum opened at 10am. I went to Hangar Coffee and got a flat white, which was perfectly smooth. After wasting enough time the museum was finally opened, so I drove over and headed inside.

The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is free for all to enter. Upon entry a docent approached me and told me that there were three exhibits I had to make sure I saw, one was about the New Zealanders who fought as part of the Allied Invasion of Gallipoli, one was about indigenous animals to New Zealand, and one was about Maori culture.

On April 25, 1915, the Australia and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZACs) landed at Gallipoli in Turkiye, as part of a failed Allied campaign to control the Dardanelles and later Istanbul. This event is often cited as the beginning of a New Zealand national consciousness, and April 25th is celebrated annually as Anzac Day. The exhibit told the stories of many Kiwi soldiers' experience at Gallipoli, highlighting Maori soldiers who faught there.

New Zealand is home to a wide variety of animal species that are not found anywhere else. Because the Maori did not come to New Zealand until about 800 years ago and there are no natural predators, many unique species were able to thrive.

I overheard a docent tell a group of American tourists that the Polynesians who lived in Samoa would have observed some species of seabirds migrating southwest, and therefore they knew of the existence of the land in New Zealand before they sailed there.

There was a special temporary exhibition with large sculptures made by Maori women, meant to invoke important parts of Maori life and culture

Another exhibit discussed Maori watercraft and displayed a wide variety of ships.

I spent about 2.5 hours in the museum before leaving. It was still too early to check into my hostel so I drove to the top of Mount Victoria in the hopes that there would be good views of the city. It was a little cloudy and drizzling but there were still some incredible views.

I next drove across the city to the Wellington Botanic Garden, which is located on the side of a hill between the neighborhoods of Thorndon and Kelburn, right above central Wellington. There was a very nice rose garden, and a waterfall in front of an eternal flame which is meant to symbolize Wellington's commitment to nuclear disarmament.

I drove to the bottom of the hill where the New Zealand Parliament Buildings are located. The Executive Wing of the building is nicknamed the beehive due to its resemblance to a woven beehive, whereas the main Parliament House is built in a neoclassical style, but with New Zealand materials.

At last it was time to check into The Marion Hostel where I would be staying for the next two nights. It is conveniently located in the heart of the Wellington CBD within walking distance of a lot of attractions, restaurants, and cafes. The hostel itself is really nice looking and there are curtains in front of every bed in the dorm rooms, which gives some nice privacy.

After settling in I drove to the opposite side of Wellington Harbor to the mouth of the Hutt River. The river has a long series of trails along both banks that are popular walking spots which I had read about online. The weather was pleasant, but the scenery was not particularly interesting, so I only spent about an hour or so walking around.

Wellington is known to have a particularly good food scene. Upon returning to the CBD I went to Scopa, a pizzeria that is famous for their hot chocolate. The chocolate was very thick and not too sweet, and it reminded me a lot of the hot chocolate we had last month in Turkiye. I went a couple of stores down to Ram's Restaurant which is known for their chili oil dumplings, which is a bowl of a dozen boiled dumplings served inside a nice chili oil and vinegar based sauce. The sauce is not particularly spicy despite the dish being called "chili oil dumplings", and it was served piping hot and was delicious.