Windy Wellington!

After a smooth sailing from Dunedin last night, we arrived in Wellington, the capital of New Zealand located on the south coast of the North Island, and tied to the dock at 8AM. Captain had two tugs assist in securing the ship to the dock as the city was measuring up to it's breezy nickname.We ordered in room service for breakfast and had a leisurely disembarkation into the cruise terminal. Lots of staff on hand to direct us and a male 'glee' club serenading us with barbershop-like songs as we pass through to the shuttle buses ($5ea return) to take us into town.
WHile waiting for the shuttles to return from dropping off earlier passengers, a rain squall hit the dock, soaking most in line and turning brollies inside out. Peggy and I broke out the rain ponchos we bought at Phillip Island Penguin encounter and stayed mostly dry. We stopped at visitors information for directions and a map and hten visited the Te-Papa.
This popular Museum has the intriguing stories of Wellington's social, cultural and maritime history. Exhibitions use precious objects and stunning special effects including a tank with a giant squid measuring over 10 feet long!
After visiting the F1 exhibit consisting of race cars dating from the 1950's to the present models, hosted by Visa Platinum, we left the museum for lunch at a local restaurant of soup and sandwich (Peggy), chips, and a meat pie (Brian).
We then walked to Lambton street to take the cable car up to the Botanical gardens and an awesome view of the City. We 'streetwalked' Lambton before catching the shuttle back to te ship. A scuffle broke out when the head of the queue ended up at the end of the bus that didn't open and later comers boarded ahead. Not great crowd control, but some pretty shabby behavior by some of our ship mates.
Back to the ship to find the elevators out of service during a test of the electrical system, so we got some good exercise today!