Orientation Day 2 - Wellington (10 June 2015)

The last day of orientation was very full of activities. While it was very busy, it was also very fun and exciting.

We started the day with a tour or parliament. It was very interesting to see how their government works and some of there differences between our government and the New Zealand government. New Zealand's government seems to be very open and welcoming of public participation. They really want the participation of the people. I think that it is really neat that they are a small enough country that it works out for them to have a small participatory government. I wish that our government was not so big and distant from the people. During the tour, they took us down to see the base isolators that they put into the government buildings. They are really excited about the base isolators and think their government buildings can withstand a Magnitude 10 earthquake. I am not so sure I believe that, but it nice to see that they consider earthquake planning to being important.

After Parliament, we went to the Royal Society where we each gave a very brief introduction to our research and what our plans for New Zealand were. Then we had lunch and headed off to see some of the fault lines in New Zealand. We stopped at three different locations to look at the faults in and around Wellington. There are dozens of faults that run either through the city or around the city. New Zealand has some interesting challenges in planning and preparing for a earthquake/tsunami event that could occur in the area. 

After touring the faults, we stopped by the Te Papa Museum and looked around some. It was nice to go back and see some of the exhibits I missed and to spend more time at some of the exhibits. It is a huge museum with lots to see, it is kind of like all of the Smithsonian museums smashed into one.

To end the day, they took us out to dinner at a restaurant on an old tug boat. The food was good, but we were all exhausted by that time. I made it up until 10pm though, an new record for me, maybe I am finally adjusted to the time zone. I have pictures, but will have to wait to post them until I am in Auckland.