The GCW Tour, Sydney & New Zealand: A Few Random Pictures of the Crossing

We haven't seen much of New Zealand yet, but what we have seen, well, looks like Seattle. With luck it will expand into something more as we begin to drive south, leaving airplanes and ferry boats behind. One can hope, anyway.

Since we had a little bit of time before the ferry, we did take the Parliament tour in Wellington. It was informative. We learned that 143 ministers govern on behalf of 4.5 million people, and that pretty much anyone is free to come speak to the committees if they desire. New Zealand also was one of the first countries to give women the vote, and had Maori ministers at the time America was still trying to obliterate its natives. And last but not least, we learned they gave up finishing their Parliament building because they were depressed after World War I and the flu outbreak. So the center stairs are instead the right hand stairs, and what was supposed to be the second wing of the Parliament building instead became The Beehive about seventy-five years later. 

Anyway, here's a few things seen during the transition...

An Australian bird.

Another Australian bird.

The Beehive.

A New Zealand ferry.

A warning sign on a New Zealand ferry.

Part of Picton, from the ferry.

The view of the sound from Picton.