The ship provided a shuttle into the city center. Wellington is a much larger city than any other on this cruise itinerary. Our plans for today were to just walk around and see what we could see. That turned out to be a good plan.We spent at least an hour at the Te Papa National Museum. Admission is free. 
Met a new friend……
This is a view of Wellington from the rooftop of the museum.
After the Museum, we walked along the waterfront and looked in shops. There was a craft fair located in one of the waterfront buildings. I was informed by one vendor that the hand carved wooden pieces and the items made from shells might be subject to confiscation at customs. What a pity, but I did not want to purchase something only to have it confiscated later. I did find some other nice items at this market.
As we walked around, I saw this advertisement. PB&J hamburger, anyone?
We found the cable car fairly close to the shuttle drop-off point and rode from Lambton Quay to the top of the hill.
The views are amazing, and there is a beautiful botanic garden at the top which provides a serene walking path all the way back down OR people can take a return trip on the cable car..
We were split on whether to walk down through the garden or take the cable car, but our feet won out over our senses, so we took the cable car, did a little window shopping and then returned by shuttle to the ship.
Next post: Cruising the Marlborough Sounds