A/N: So this is only the first half of Day 1 in Wellington, through no fault of my own I'm the unwilling owner of 7 broken bones, so I just finished up this chapter so I can give you all an update since I'm not sure how long it will take me to get the next one out, though it is all planned out so hopefully it won't be too long.
I want to dedicate this chapter to my Grandad on what would be his birthday, this chapter makes reference to an important part of New Zealand's history, the sinking of the Wahine, and my Grandad risked his life to help the passengers get to shore safely, he is one of the selfless volunteers that can be thanked for saving hundreds of lives. Happy birthday Grandad, I love and miss you every day 3
It didn't take long for the train to arrive in Wellington, and Troy and Gabriella, having no idea where they were going, just followed the crowds of people through the station and outside where there was a small drop off/pick up area and taxi stand.
"Where are we meant to be going?" Troy asked, spinning slowly in a circle, not having the slightest clue where he was.
"Uhhh," Gabriella answered, looking around at what they could see from where they were standing. "Is the hostel called Wellington Downtown Backpackers?"
"Sounds familiar," Troy agreed, trying to see where Gabriella had seen the name and he quickly spotted a tall building directly across the road from where they were standing.
"Should we go and book a room?" Gabriella pondered aloud. "They might have maps or something there."
Troy nodded, glad he was with Gabriella who was a logical thinker otherwise he may have just walked around aimlessly til he found something he was looking for. Grabbing his girlfriend's hand, Troy shivered as the wind started to pick up, though it wasn't too cold for people who were used to the biting southerly wind, it was cold to both Troy and Gabriella, and they picked up their pace, reaching the backpackers in less than a minute.
Once inside, Gabriella gently pushed Troy towards the front desk, and it surprised Troy that Gabriella was so shy, for around him, she had no problems talking his ear off. This only sought to remind Troy that he only knew one side of Gabriella, but he reminded himself that when they got home, they'd be at the same school and he would only be getting to know Gabriella better and better.
The backpackers had plenty of rooms left for the night but Troy and Gabriella still booked one, figuring it meant they didn't have to hurry back later on in the day just to make sure they got a room. They also got a map, and the friendly lady at the front desk highlighted the best route for them to take to get to all their planned activities that day.
"New Zealanders are really friendly," Troy commented to Gabriella as they stood, waiting at the traffic lights to cross the road over to the waterfront, but just as he spoke, a businessman on a cell phone and carrying a briefcase, pushed between them, breaking their grasp on each other's hands and making the pair burst out laughing.
"Most of them?" Gabriella asked, making to grab Troy's hand in her own but instead he wrapped an arm around her waist, tugging her into his side and taking her hand in his opposite hand.
After a few minutes, the lights all changed to red and Troy, Gabriella and the numerous Wellingtonians crossed the road, though the pair noticed that everyone else seemed to walk just a few seconds before the light and beeping indicating they could cross, went off.
On the other side of the road they headed the short distance to the waterfront, and Gabriella immediately stepped up onto the edge that was a few feet above the water.
"Brie, be careful," Troy warned, looking past Gabriella at the choppy waters below.
Gabriella merely grinned at Troy, walking one foot in front of the other along the wooden edge. "Do you think we'll see dolphins?"
Troy shook his head at his girlfriend. "If you slip you'll probably freeze to death in that water, if you don't kill yourself on the rocks, and you're just thinking about seeing dolphins?"
Gabriella giggled, shrugging as she grabbed onto Troy's hand. "If I fall, I'm taking you with me."
Troy wrapped his arm back around her waist, lifting her up and making her squeal as he set her down on the concrete on the right side of the edging.
"You can see just as well from here and you won't end up giving me a heart attack, okay?"
Gabriella couldn't stop the grin at Troy's protectiveness and the pair continued in relative silence along the windy waterfront until they reached the Museum of Wellington City and Sea, their first stop for the day.
They hurried inside, eager to get out of the biting southerly wind, and when they got inside Troy was instantly attracted to a big picture on the wall of a board sinking, and Gabriella followed him over, starting to read the information about the Wahine Disaster while Troy merely looked at the pictures.
"On the morning of April 10th, 1968, Cyclone Giselle hit at the same time as another storm which had driven up the West Coast of the South Island from Antarctica. The two storms met over the capital city, creating a single storm just as the inter-island ferry Wahine was crossing Cook Strait," Gabriella read from the board, and Troy pointed at a picture of the boat laying on it's side in the water.
"This must be just before it sunk," he pointed out needlessly and Gabriella nodded before continuing reading out loud about the horrible storm that had lashed the capital city, throwing the ferry against the rocks at Pencarrow Head.
"Most of the passengers didn't even realise they had struck rocks because they could tell little difference between that impact and the battering the ship was receiving," Gabriella read out and Troy couldn't help but interrupt.
"Shit, that must've been some storm," he commented. "Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt."
Gabriella giggled lightly at his apology, reaching up to peck his lips gently before the pair turned their attention back to the display.
"Wow the weather was so bad that no help could be given from the harbour or the shore," Troy commented and Gabriella pointed to a bit further down.
"Only four lifeboats could be launched, for 610 passengers and 123 crew, it's amazing only 53 people died," Gabriella gasped, feeling great sadness even though these were people she didn't and would never know.
"These must be like volunteers that helped out," Troy pointed to a picture of people being helped out of the lifeboat and Gabriella nodded, looking at the black and white photo of chaos.
"Those poor people," Gabriella said softly, and Troy nodded, hugging her tighter. "Do you want to watch the film they have of it?" Gabriella asked, having read down the bottom of the information about what else was available at the museum to do with the Wahine disaster.
After they had watched the short film, leaving both of them with heavy hearts, and slightly worried about crossing the cook strait in a few days, the pair continued around the rest of the small museum, finding an exhibit about the island they had seen on the train.
"Somes Island," read out Troy, not even attempting the Maori name for the island, "Matiu".
"Oh wow, it was used as a quarantine purposes in 1872," Gabriella read out. "For smallpox when the boats arrived from England, and about 40 people are buried on the island."
"And it was used again in 1918 during the influenza epidemic," Troy pointed out and Gabriella gasped.
"1918? That was like 90 years ago, and they put people on a little island pretty much to die? Oh my God, Troy look at this."
Gabriella pointed to a list of the people who were known to have died and been buried on the island, many of them babies and young children.
"Fuck, 12 days old," Troy pointed out a baby who had died in 1874, on the same day as 3 other children aged 17 months, 18 months and 3 years old. "That's horrible, how can a 12 day old baby die of smallpox?"
"Well she came in on a ship so it was probably complications from birth or something," Gabriella explained. "Thought a 12 day old baby would get really sick, really fast so I'm not really sure. Her death is listed as unknown."
After reading through the list of people buried on the island, Troy and Gabriella read the information about how the island has been used since World War 1 and 2 when it was used as a camp for enemy internees who were considered a security threat.
"So this is kinda like a safe haven for animals now?" Troy asked as they read about how the Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society of New Zealand had managed to rid the island of rats, mice, stoats and other harmful animals so that the island could be used for endangered animals and plants to be safe on.
"I guess it is," Gabriella replied. "The smaller island next to it is the same, but people are allowed on Somes island and not the other one."
"A quarantine island, a major part of the world wars and now a nature reserve, lots of faces for such a small, seemingly insignificant island," Troy grinned, pointing to a picture of a little blue penguin that made Gabriella squeal with happiness.
Troy had never had so much fun learning, and this was just the beginning of his 2 day journey that was organised by Gabriella Montez, honour student.
After they were finished at the Museum of Wellington City and Sea, they headed a little further down the waterfront to Te Papa – the Museum of New Zealand. Inside, they instantly started exploring, going to see the colossal squid exhibit first, both were amazed at it's size, and while Troy was happy just to look at the squid, Gabriella set upon reading the information available at the exhibit, reading out random facts and information to Troy who was surprised to find himself reading the information himself at the next exhibit they went to.
The next exhibit was the rest of the Mountains to Sea exhibit, where there were over 2500 native plants and animals, ranging from minuscule insects to the gigantic skeleton of a 21-metre pygmy blue whale. The natural settings of the exhibit were strikingly represented, animated by sound and lighting effects. The pair walked among dramatically designed tall tree ferns, gigantic beech, kauri, and rata trees. They could hear forest animals, flowing water, the sea and there was the impression of dappled sunlight coming through a leafy canopy. The underwater scenes suggested mystery and depth and when they went up the ramp in the centre of the exhibition they got a treetop perspective on the exhibition.
After they spent a great deal of time at the Mountains to Sea exhibit, they crossed the room to the Awesome Forces exhibit, where they were shown how plate tectonics, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and erosion have shaped New Zealand's dynamic landscape. There were a number of interactive exhibits, including the museums most popular exhibit, which Troy and Gabriella entered first. They stood alone in the small area, in front of them was set up like an every day living room, with a tv, radio, some arm chairs, a lamp, a light hanging from the ceiling and numerous other knickknacks spread around. Troy and Gabriella were watching the unknown show on the tv when suddenly the floor underneath them jolted, back and forward harshly, the lights in the small house flickering and the loud sounds of crashing filled their ears.
Gabriella screamed, practically leaping into Troy's arms, hitting him hard in the shoulder with her cast as he held her tightly, each of them seriously fearing for their life as the shaking stopped and the radio turned itself on, reporting a large earthquake had just struck Wellington City and Gabriella and Troy looked at each other, their eyes wide as they stopped listening to the radio broadcast and hurried out of the exhibit. They couldn't believe their eyes when they went back out into the main exhibit area and everyone was standing around as normal, reading the information on the walls and exploring the exhibits as if a large earthquake hadn't just struck right where they were standing.
As they walked around gaping at the carefreeness of everyone else in the room, they ended back up at the entrance to the exhibit they had just been in when the earthquake struck, and Gabriella noticed the sign informing them that the exhibit simulated an earthquake, and went off every five minutes during opening hours.
"Troy," she giggled, feeling her racing heart slow down as she pointed the sign out to Troy who burst into laughter as well, causing a few people nearby to look at them with confused looks. "It was just an exhibit."
"Scariest fucking exhibit ever," Troy proclaimed, placing a kiss on Gabriella's smiling lips. "Though I did like the way you threw yourself at me, deciding to take what you wanted in your last few seconds of life, eh?"
Gabriella blushed, pushing Troy gently in the chest, away from her. "And you think you're going to get lucky tonight talking like that? I think you're gunna be sleeping on the floor."
Shaking his head Troy grabbed Gabriella around the waist, wrapping his arms tightly around her small frame and tugging her back to his chest as he bent down to talk quietly in her ear, his voice husky as his breath made her shiver.
"Admit it Montez, you want me. Bad."
And though Gabriella knew he was joking, she couldn't deny it, not one bit.