Friday 2nd March 2007. Wellington. Capital City of New Zealand.

South of the steep Rimutaka Ranges, Wellington is the country's capital. Its a capital where Wellingtonians enjoy an arty, cafe society.


Breakfast at Mojo on Willis before heading off to Matiu/Somes Island the tranquil retreat for wildlife located in Wellington Harbour (Te Whanganui-a-Tara).

Maori occupied this island for generations before its more recent use as a human and animal quarantine station, an internment camp and a military defence position. The island was opened to the public as a Department of Conservation scientific and historic reserve in 1995.

It is believed that the first person to visit the island was the famed Polynesian explorer Kupe in the 10th century.

As we board the ferry Paul and I stand awhile and contemplate the words etched into the harbour wall...

My quiet morning hill
Stands like an altar drawn
Whereon hushed hands shall lay
The shining pyx of dawn.

With penitence and stir
And drowsy flurry by
The wind, a shame faced serving-boy,
Comes running up the sky.

The words come from The Acolyte by the New Zealand poet Eileen Duggan (b.1894 d.1972).

In many Maori traditions it was the demigod Maui who pulled New Zealand from the depths of the sea; but it was the daring Polynesian explorer Kupe who brought the names to numerous places.

Matiu and nearby Makaro were named by Kupe for his two daughters. In 1839, Matiu was assumed by the New Zealand Company along with much of greater Wellington. Re-named Somes, in honour of the company's deputy-governor and financier Joseph Somes the island held that name for the next 150 years until the bilingual name was assigned in 1997 by the New Zealand Geographic Board.

Judy, Corinna, Paul, Alma and I make our first stop the Quarantine Memorial where we are moved by the deaths (after such long and arduous journey's of people in search of new life).

Farewell Father and Mother Dear,
Brothers and Sisters too,
I am not Dead but in Heaven,
Waiting and Watching for you.

From the early 1870s until 1920 the island was frequently used as a human quarantine station having begun life in 1872 shortly after the immigrant ship England came into Wellington Harbour flying the yellow quarantine flag.

The island also served as an animal quarantine station for over 100 years from the early 1880s. With livestock arriving from all over the world, animals were held on the island until they were given a clean bill of health.

The Italian Internees Memorial from World War II serves as a reminder of the futility of war.

For such a small island Matiu/Somes played a significant role in New Zealand's defence and security strategies in both world wars. The island served in both wars as an internment camp for alien internees who were considered a security threat and today there remain World War II heavy anti-aircraft artillery positions and gun emplacements.

This island has seen its fair share of racism and horror and is renowned for the story of Kim Lee a 56 year-old fruiter from Adelaide Road in Wellington who on July 13th 1903 was arrested on suspicion of leprosy and incarcerated on Somes Island for quarantine. However, complaints from European residents on the island led to his removal to the tiny Mokopuna Island where he lived on his own in a small cave.

His food was supplied by the light-house keeper in a row-boat when the weather was fine and by flying fox when the weather was inclement. After months of this treatment he died on 14th March 1904 and was buried in an unmarked grave on Somes Island. Questions surround whether he ever had leprosy; he was like many a Chinaman of his day both an opium addict and a victim of the inherent racism against the Chinese. Such racism was commonplace in New Zealand as elsewhere in the Empire; for example, elderly Joe Kum Yung was shot by Lionel Terry in Haining Street in 1905.

This island is a beautiful and inspirational spot. From the early days the Maori have used the island as a strategic Pa. Since it was only accessible by Waka, it was easy to secure and defend. Such isolation also makes the island an ideal nature reserve.

By the end of the 18th century tribal groupings such as Ngati Ira, Ngai Tara and Ngati Kahungunu had occupied various parts of the harbour.

A grouping of Taranaki hapu (or sub-tribes) and iwi (tribes)...specifically the Ngati Mutunga, Ngati Tama and the Te Atiawa moved into the region and assumed manawhenua (primary authority over the land).

Te Atiawa have infact maintain kaitiakitanga (guardianship) over the island to the present day.

Our next stop is the Weta Motel. There are some 500 species of invertebrates on the island which include several species of Weta. The Cook Strait giant weta and the Wellington tree weta were reintroduced to the island in the late 1990's and you are able to open a hollowed out section of tree and see these weta's in their natural habitat behind the glass.

Ship rats and other pests were eradicated from the island in the late 1980s allowing the island to become a sanctuary for native plants, birds, reptiles and invertebrates. We saw many Red-Crowned Parakeets (Kakariki)which have been successfully re-introduced. Vibrant green and red birds they fly at quite a rate!!

The island is also a refuge for the world's smallest penguin the little blue (Korora). Here, free from predators, the penguins nest and raise their young in relative safety. This safety is also vital when the penguins moult each summer. During this time they neither eat nor swim and we unfortunately were just a couple of weeks too late arriving to see these wonerful creatures...some you win and some you lose.

We did however see skinks aplenty. One of the five species of reptile found only in New Zealand and resident on the island: the common skink, spotted skink, and copper skink were all around. Unfortunately the common gecko and Brothers Island tuatara are nocturnal and so rarely seen by visitors.

The island's lighthouse was constructed in 1900 and later automated. This lighthouse replaced the original lighthouse of 1886 which was infact the first harbour light in the country. Today you can still see the tracks of the old provisions railway line.

Life on the island has inspired many, none more so than the island's first lighthouse keeper William Lyall...

The lighthouse lamp shines forth from far to guide their course aright.
Tis like the eye of Providence that sheds its glorious ray
And now the weary mariners no longer feel dismay.
The Port of safety is in view - the winds and ocean roar
As if in rage to lose their prey that hums to the shore.
But soon the Harbour's mouth is gained - all dangers at an end.

Before leaving the island we have the incident of the exploding bag with all my possessions covered by my exploding bottle of sun cream...time for lunch I think.

Back in Wellington and we dine at The Loaded Hog in the harbour...it was a scream!!
The sausage and mash comes without either sausage or mash, the fish and chips has no chips...as Alma said It's imaginary food.

Oh and I settled for the soup...Let's drink some lunch!

After lunch Corinna, Judy and I take ourselves off on a self-guided tour of the city. Our first port of call is Government Building which gives the appearance of being stone but is infact made entirely of timber. Dating from 1876 this building was for many years the home of the entire civil service. Designed by the official colonial architect William Clayton it is of a modified renaissance style and was built on land reclaimed from the mud flats. Today the building is part of the Victoria University.
This is actually the largest wooden building in the southern hemisphere and the second largest wooden building in the world...naturally smoking was banned in the building from the day it opened!

Next stop on our tour is Parliament House which is the work of the government architect John Campbell and Claude Paton. Built in the ten years between 1912 and 1922 the facing is of South Island Takaka marble. Unfinished, this building is asymmetric because the second wing (now the site of the Beehive) was never erected. The classical colonnade though gives this building a sense of dignity.

The Parliamentary Library is one of the few examples of high Victorian gothic left in the city. The original design for a 3-storey building by Thomas Turnbull was judged too expensive and so a 2-storey modification (not acceptable to Turnbull) and thus supervised by John Campbell was completed in 1899.

Our next stop was Old St Paul's Church one of the oldest buildings surviving in Wellington. The work of Thomas Thatcher this gothic revival church opened in 1866 and was built from New Zealand timbers with the framing exposed on the inside of the church.

Unfortunately this is a flying visit as a wedding is taking place and so I make a mental note to return and explore the building indepth at a later date.

We then head over to St Paul's Cathedral the third Anglican Church of St Paul in this city. The first was erected in 1844 and the second consecrated in 1866. The present cathedral was dedicated in 1964 when Old St Paul's (the pro-Cathedral) closed.

The first Anglican service held in Wellington was actually held offshore on Somes Island in September of 1839. Maori people came by canoe to join the passengers and crew of the Tory. Onshore worship was continued in the police station and courthouse but the first vicar, Robert Cole, wanted to build a stone church. The young settlement did not have the money and the first proposed site, the old cemetery was judged unsuitable. A wooden church was erected in 1844 accommodating around 100 people on Museum Street.

By the time the Reverend Frederick Thatcher arrived the building was in disrepair and so the first St Paul's was dismantled with part of the building incorporated in the former Bolton Street Cemetery Chapel.

The city now had a Bishop who wanted not just a church but a cathedral. Thatcher was an architect to trade and with fundraising efforts St Paul's Mulgrave Street was built.

Her Majesty The Queen laid the foundation stone of the present cathedral and construction began in 1956. In 1964 the sanctuary, choir crossing and the first bay of the nave were opened for worship with the sacred vessels and other pieces of equipment carried in procession from the old to the new cathedrals.

Think Coventry or Guildford and you have a good sense of Wellington cathedral.

The inspirational role of women is celebrated by the Landmarks Project here in the Cathedral. The Trail of Light installation is designed and dedicated as a national tribute to the women of New Zealand and their contribution to the economic, social, cultural, political and spiritual development of the nation.

It also pays tribute to those legislative and social changes that make New Zealand a world leader in the advancement and well-being of women. The completed project was unveiled by the Governor-General (a woman), Dame Silvia Cartwright on September 19th 2003, marking the 110th anniversary of women achieving the right to vote in New Zealand (the first country in the world to afford such rights to women).

The Trail of Light was designed by Wairarapa artist Rhondda Greig with the etching recording the names of fifty New Zealand women on three glass panels. These women are leaders who have made a difference in society. The backdrop is reminiscent of stained glass.

Yet to be completed is Landmarks a timeline of fifty statutes and events in New Zealand's history that mark the legal and social progress of women. The dates of the timeline are to be carved into fifty hinuera stone blocks that will then be attached to the two pillars that arch over the side aisle beside the wall panel.

Also yet to be completed are three tribute books that are to be placed on three desks. The Trail of Light will offer a biography of each of the fifty women; Landmarks will provide the background to each of the statutes and events of the timeline and the Trail of Light Continues will record commemorations of other outstanding women in due course.

The cathedral is home to many inspirational monuments, none more so (in my opinion) than the First World War memorial.

The hill feature above ANZAC Cove on the Gallipoli Peninsula was captured by the men of the Wellington Battalion under the command of Lt. Col. W.G. Malone on August 8th 1915. With reinforcements from Auckland, Canterbury and Otago the expedition suffered 90% casualties with the names of those killed subsequently being inscribed on the wall below the war memorial.

The large stone block in St Paul's comes from that war memorial as a gift from the President of Turkey in honour of those who lost their lives.

I am prepared for death and hope that God will have forgiven me all my sins. My desire for life - so that I may see and be with you again - could not be greater but I have only done what every man was bound to do in our country's need. It has been a great consolation to me that you approved my action, the sacrifice was really yours. May you be consoled and rewarded by our dear Lord.

Lt. Col. Wm. G. Malone

I also enjoyed the concept of the stitched Prayer Labyrinth where any visitor is encouraged to pray for intercession or give thanks and praise and also to complete a section of the tapestry.

Before leaving the cathedral I take time to visit the Lady Chapel (formerly the parish church of St Paul at Paraparaumu, built in 1905 and removed to this site in 1990...consecrated May 12th 1991.

The final chapter in the cathedral's building history came in 1998 with the completion of the nave and the commemorative tower.

We head off into town where we all buy Croc's. A strange plastic clog it is really like walking on air. We created quite a stir in the shop...a combination of the Vicar's wife, an aristocrat who called St James's Palace home and me...as well as having great fun we are providing great entertainment. Other people chain smoke...we chain ice-cream. On Wednesday we had six magnum ice-creams to eat in five minutes between us and today we keep up the chocolate fad with coffee and luxury choc's at Butler's Chocolate Cafe.

Paul and I host cocktails for the group tonight and my final birthday celebration is toasted with Brookfields Hillside Syrah. We then head out for our final group dinner at Longxiang.

At St Andrews On The Terrace (St Andrew's is the oldest Presbyterian Church in New Zealand (1840)) we attend King Arthur performed by Boutique Opera.

The building proved more interesting than the performance with the present church dating from 1922 and made from reinforced concrete to the design of the Wellington architect Frederick de J Clere. The building closely followed the design of the timber church from the site which had been built in 1879 to the design of Christian Toxward in the Classical style.

The performance was set as a tale of strange goings-on in the English countryside when the Britannia Croquet Club get lost on a day trip to Wycombe. The opera was set to the music of Purcell’s opera King Arthur and presented a lively, very eccentric and colonial idea of patriotic opera of rousing choruses, soulful arias and beautiful harmonies.

It was a very strange interpretation of village life in England to which Paul (as an Aussie) was unsure how to react...but that was also the case for Judy, Corinna and I (all of whom have spend substantial portions of our life in southern villages and indeed playing croquet).

Background to the music...

The English before Handel's time had difficulty with the concept of opera, being a nation reared on theatre and drama. They were reluctant to admit more than the occasional song, fanfare, dance or interlude.

With the restoration, King Charles II brought French musical ideas and these greatly influenced Henry Purcell (1659-1695) and his contemporaries.

The English solution was the 'semi-opera' - a play with considerable amounts of music, often entire scenes. Semi-operas were performed by two separate companies, one of actors and one of musicians. King Arthur was one such semi-opera with the play being written by John Dryden (1631-1700).

There is almost no reference in the music for King Arthur to any of the play's main characters or situations, and none of the main characters of the play sing. Over half of the music is allegorical in nature.

The fact that King Arthur continued to be performed long after Purcell's death is extraordinary at a time when nearly all music was contemporary. Handel would undoubtedly have seen a performance as the piece remained popular with London audiences until the middle 1740's and it clearly had an effect on his own ideas about setting the English language.

Each revival however moved further away from Dryden's play and Purcell's music. There is music missing from the original version of Dryden's play which was first performed in 1691. Music was also added by other composers in the 18th century for new versions of the play, and so the interpretation we saw this evening is one in a long list of theatrical experiments.

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From the sublime to the ridiculous and its late night karaoke at the Blue Note Bar with Paul, Thomas, Wendy, Christie and Bill. We then headed on to play early morning pool at MVP.

I want to say publically a big thank-you to all my travelling companions and in particular to my room-mate Paul. We had such a great time that we are joining up again in under two weeks in Christchurch to celebrate St Patrick's Day.