More history as I prepare to leave Wellington.


        

First  a quick visit to the Wellington Museum where I learnt about the unique pedestrian crossing lights in Wellington. Not just a single figure but 4 different figures depicting different people.

Carmen Rupe a trailblazing transgender woman and advocate for LGBTQIA rights.

Kate Sheppard led the Suffrage movement in New Zealand, seeing it become the first country where women gained the right to vote.

Alfred Shout was born in Wellington but fought and died with the Australians at Gallipoli. He was awarded the Victoria Cross for bravery.

The Haka Wahine figure was installed in 2019 to celebrate the Te Matatini kapa haka festival held in Wellington that year.


In the Wellington Museum there was just time for a quick read of the dreadful disaster of the TEV Wahine. On the morning of 10 April 1968 the Lyttelton-Wellington roll-on, roll-off passenger ferry Wahine was blown off course by a severe storm after its steering failed as it attempted to enter Wellington Harbour. Of the 734 people on board 53 died from drowning, exposure to the elements or from injuries sustained in the hurried evacuation.



A visit to Old St Paul's which is absolutely beautiful. As the plaque indicates it served as the pro-Cathedral for the Church of England for 98 years. It is of wooden construction and there are definite similarities to ship-building in the construction.




             In the picture on the right it is just possible to see a small hole in the wooden panel at the base of one of the columns. After a severe earthquake in Wellington on 14 November 2016 many buildings were damaged and at least one had to be demolished. This church required repairs although the wooden structure had helped limit the damage.  However, this column did need repair and for the first time this little panel was found to open up to a cupboard. On the back of the panel they found the names of all the original craftsmen who had built the church. It is incredible to think that these details had lain hidden since the church was built.

Finally a late lunch at our favourite cafe in the Old Bank building before setting off to the airport for the next part of my journey. Next stop, Sydney!













        


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