Mythbusting in Wellington

I’m currently in Wellington, New Zealand. At latitude 41°S, it’s the southernmost national capital city in the world. This is about as far south as you can get without hiking through Patagonia.

Wellington feels like a place where the edges of reality are smudged just enough to let the strange seep through. Maybe it’s the wind whispering across Mount Victoria, or the way the clouds roll in like theatrical lighting cues. This is Peter Jackson country, all conjured up in this modest city at the bottom of the world.

Taking the funicular railway in Wellington.

Being south of the equator once again, this time I actually remembered to personally debunk that water would drain “backwards” in the southern hemisphere. This is said to occur due to the Earth’s rotation, but the force is too weak to affect the direction of water flowing. Water whirls both ways, depending on the construction of the sink. Or to be more accurate, the Coriolis force is so small that it cannot determine the direction of rotation of a draining sink.

On the other hand, I’ve seen videos where you get different results depending on whether you are in northern hemisphere, southern hemisphere or right on the equator. I guess someone will still have to convince me. Meanwhile I’ll go have another coffee and look for more magic.