Best of New Zealand - 24th February - Wellington

Thursday 24^th February – Wellington

Wellington, is the capital city and third most populous urban area of New Zealand. The urban area is situated on the south western tip of the country's North Island, and lies between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range. It is home to 389,700 residents, with an additional 3,700 residents living in the surrounding rural areas.

The Wellington urban area is the major population centre of the southern North Island, and is the seat of the Wellington Region — which in addition to the urban area covers the Kapiti Coast and Wairarapa. The urban area includes four cities: Wellington City, on the peninsula between Cook Strait and Wellington Harbour, contains the central business district and about half of Wellington's population; Porirua City on Porirua Harbour to the north is notable for its large Māori and Pacific Island communities; Lower Hutt City and Upper Hutt City are largely suburban areas to the northeast, together known as the Hutt Valley.

The 2009 Mercer Quality of Living Survey ranked Wellington 12th in the world on its list.

Wellington was named after Arthur Wellesley, the first Duke of Wellington and victor of the Battle of Waterloo. The Duke's title comes from the town of Wellington in the English county of Somerset.

In Māori, Wellington goes by three names. Te Whanga-nui-a-Tara refers to Wellington Harbour and means "the great harbour of Tara". Pōneke is a transliteration of Port Nick, short for Port Nicholson (the city's central marae, the community supporting it and its kapa haka have the pseudo-tribal name of Ngāti Pōneke).Te Upoko-o-te-Ika-a-Māui, meaning The Head of the Fish of Māui (often shortened to Te Upoko-o-te-Ika), a traditional name for the southernmost part of the North Island, derives from the legend of the fishing up of the island by the demi-god Māui.

Wellington is New Zealand's political centre, housing Parliament, the head offices of all Government Ministries and Departments and the bulk of the foreign diplomatic missions that are based in New Zealand.

Wellington's compact city centre supports an arts scene, café culture and night life much larger than many cities of a similar size. It is an important centre of New Zealand's film and theatre industry, and second to Auckland in terms of numbers of screen industry businesses. Te Papa Tongarewa (the Museum of New Zealand), the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, the Royal New Zealand Ballet, Museum of Wellington City & Sea and the biennial New Zealand International Arts Festival are all sited there.

In 1865, Wellington became the capital city of New Zealand, replacing Auckland, where William Hobson had placed the capital in 1841. The Parliament of New Zealand had first met in Wellington on July 7, 1862, on a temporary basis, but Wellington did not become the official capital city for three more years. In November 1863, the Prime Minister of New Zealand, Alfred Domett, places a resolution before Parliament (meeting in Auckland) that "... it has become necessary that the seat of government ... should be transferred to some suitable locality in Cook Strait." (In the Cook Strait region, that is — not in the ocean) Apparently, there had been some concerns that the more highly populated South Island (where the gold fields were located) would choose to form a separate colony in the British Empire. Several Commissioners invited from Australia (chosen for their neutral status to help resolve the question) declared that Wellington was a suitable location because of central location in New Zealand and its good harbour. Parliament officially met in Wellington for the first time on July 26, 1865.

As the national capital, Wellington is naturally the location of the highest court of New Zealand, the Supreme Court. The historic "High Court" building has been enlarged and restored for the use of the Supreme Court.

Government House, the official residence of the Governor-General, is located in Newtown, opposite the Basin Reserve. Premier House, the official residence of the Prime Minister, is located in Thorndon on Tinakori Road.

Geraldine, is a town in the Canterbury region on the South Island of New Zealand. It is about 140 km south of Christchurch. Geraldine has a country village atmosphere, with majestic old forests, early settlers cottages and little arts and crafts corners.

The Geraldine area started to be settled by Europeans in the 1840s and it was in 1854 that Samuel Hewlings built the first bark hut in Talbot Street. He married a Māori, Nga Hei, and the totara tree that he planted to mark the birth of his daughter still stands. Sheep runs were quickly established in the area together with pit saw milling of the native bush. When the bush had been cleared, wheat crops were grown across the plains.

Originally called Talbot Forest, Geraldine was renamed FitzGerald in 1857 after the first superintendent of Canterbury, the Irishman Edward FitzGerald. The name was finally changed to Geraldine, which was the FitzGeralds' family name in Ireland.

Geraldine’s reputation as a home to gifted artists and artisans is growing all the time and many of these talented people, for example Austen Deans and John Badcock, have their work on sale in the town itself or from nearby studios. Some of the creations come in edible form too – Geraldine’s cheesemaker, chocolatier and the internationally recognised Barker's fruit products all have outlets in the town.

Geraldine is in the heart of a prosperous farming area with dairy cows, sheep, cattle, deer, cropping and fruit growing in abundance. Almost 3,500 people live in the town and its surroundings areas. It is the headquarters for the nearby state forests and has modern shopping amenities such as a book shop, hardware shop, dairies and many more.

Kaikoura is a town on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It is located on State Highway 1, 180 km north of Christchurch.

Kaikoura became the first local authority to reach the Green Globe tourism certification standard.

The Kaikoura Peninsula extends into the sea south of the town, and the resulting up welling currents bring an abundance of marine life from the depths of the nearby Hikurangi Trench. The town owes its origin to this effect, since it developed as a centre for the whaling industry. The name 'Kaikoura' translates to 'meal of crayfish' ('kai'- food/meal, 'koura' - crayfish) and the crayfish industry still plays a role in the economy of the region. However Kaikoura has now become a popular tourist destination, mainly for whale watching (the Sperm Whale watching is perhaps the best and most developed in the world) and swimming with or near dolphins. There is also a large and readily observed colony of Southern Fur Seals at the eastern edge of the town. It is also one of the best reasonably accessible places in the world to see open ocean seabirds such as albatrosses, petrels and shearwaters, including the Hutton's shearwater which nests high in Kaikoura's mountains.

The town has a strikingly beautiful setting, as the Seaward Kaikoura mountains, a branch of the Southern Alps come nearly to the sea at this point on the coast. Because of this, there are many walking tracks up and through the mountains. A common one for tourists is the Mt. Fyffe track, which winds up Mt. Fyffe, and gives a panoramic view of the Kaikoura peninsula from the summit

Picton , is a town in the Marlborough region of New Zealand. It is near the head of Queen Charlotte Sound near the north-east corner of the South Island. The population is 2928.  The town is named after Sir Thomas Picton, the Welsh military associate of the Duke of Wellington, who was killed at the Battle of Waterloo.

Inter-island ferries to and from Wellington arrive and depart here by way of the Marlborough Sounds. Most of the sheltered part of the route is through Tory Channel, south of Arapawa Island. The township of Waikawa is a couple of minutes' drive from Picton, practically part of the same town. Waikawa hosts a marina, one of the largest in New Zealand.

The Journey

Our first stop is in Geraldine, the Bakery is open for hot drinks and snacks, we continue on towards and round Christchurch, a toilet stop on the way shall be made, before arriving to Kaikoura, this is our lunch stop. We continue through the Marlborough region which is famous for its wine. On arrival in Picton, it is check for our ferry to Weelington, on board there is a self service restaurant and bar, this is where you have to have dinner. On arrival in Wellington, join our coach and a short drive takes us to our Hotel for 2 nights The Grand Chancellor James Cook.