A couple of very nice seashore type days have passed. Yesterday, we travelled about 250 kms southwest from Napier across very beautiful country with lots of freshly sheared sheep to a small village just 35 minutes north of Wellington. From cloud into beautiful sunny skies! It was great! We stayed above a bar beside the rail tracks in a nice place with a view across the street to the local stores where we purchased some food to make a simple dinner. 
The highlight here was the lovely long beach where we managed a long walk...and later some star gazing.
View across the straights to the South Island.
This morning we surfaced and drove south to Wellington where we dropped our gear at a small boutique hotel (shared bath, but fresh scons available) and managed to navigate the car to the downtown drop off (not a scratch after just over 1,000 kms). It was a nice feeling to deliver the car in one peice...I had sorted out the driving process quite nicely and hadn't used the windshield wiper switch to change lanes in at least two days! Annemarie's directions are still unfortunately mixed up!
Today we decided to walk this beautiful city that experiences an average of 170 days each year with winds of over 60kms/hr. That's a lot of wind! We had a calm day as we set off to walk the waterfront to the airport. Very nice walking along the water.
An amazing number of jelly fish in the harbour. Even the locals were taking note!
As we walked we noticed the South Island ferry depart. We will be up at 6am to catch this ship with a 3.5 hour crossing. Very much looking forward to that!
As we neared the airport we began to climb away from the harbour and eventually discovered that we were climbing Mount Victoria. Up many stairs and beautiful winding roads. We knew we were on to something pretty good!
The shoreline around the harbour was beautiful with lovely homes along the way and satisfying vistas. The city is well set- up for cycling and walking. Lots of healthy folks living here, and they seem to like to swim as well?
As we approached the summit the views were stunning.
Then we descended through the forest trails where we found trees that had silver trucks and were very much like our west coast Arbutus trees.
As we descended through the various neighbourhoods we couldn't help but feel like we were walking through parts of San Francisco...check out these houses.
We stopped at the harbour for a visit to the FREE Te Papa Museum for a wander before locating a well deserved krafted beer. Very good! Out for a nice lamb dinner tonight before we begin an 8 day caravan and camping journey tomorrow. Dessert was $14 so we passed and wandered home.
By the way, in case you missed it, the cricket World Cup is being held in NZ this year and believe me, it's everywhere here. They love it, but I can tell you, it's like watching paint dry! 
With 8 days in a small motor home we aren't too sure about wifi availability. Guess we'll find out!
Something Annemarie wrote a few days ago...
A few technical difficulties...will add soon.
2 comments:
great pics
What a beautiful place!
Post a Comment