Wellington

So the last two nights we spend in Wellington, right downtown by the ferry terminal, the New Zealand Post building and close to the train station. Just up the street was the parliament building, the treasury and the reserve bank. Along the shore were many restaurants, coffee shops, galleries and other interesting places. Here is a couple of pics from our camp in Wellington.

Yesterday we walked so much I got a blister on my right foot. We started out going to see the old St. Paul Anglican Church. I am not going to tell you about the history and such, google it and you will find the details, but all I will tell you is that It is constructed from New Zealand native timbers, with stunning stained glass windows. I enjoyed the wooden structure. I was sorry I didn't bring by tripod and wide angle lens, it would have been a good picture. I just snapped a couple of pictures and here is one to show you.

After that we walked to the other side of downtown to Te Papa. Te Papa is New Zealand’s national museum, renowned for being bicultural, scholarly, innovative, and fun. We spent about an hour and half there and then went to get something to eat. There was a gaming exhibition at Te Papa and Michael wanted to go back and see it so he went back while Phillip, Jana and I went for coffee and ice cream thinking that by the time we are done Michael will be done exploring the exhibition. Michael spent the next three hours there, we ended up going to get some groceries and then went back to camp to wait for him. Once Michael came back we headed up the cable car and walked back through botanical gardens. So a lot of walking and lot of exploring. The cable car was very similar to the one in Prague going to Petřín.

When we got back to camp it was getting dark. We got some chicken skewers earlier while we were waiting for Michael so I pulled out the BBQ to make supper. One of the things I got to suggest to the camper rental people is to include BBQ brush with the BBQ. I ended up scraping it with an old wooden spoon - it all turned very good, also roasted some veggies.

One of the challenges while camping in the city was the noise. The engine rumble from the ferry that was docked in port right next to the camp was very annoying. The ferry left at 8:50 pm but was back at around 5 am and it was hard to sleep with the noise. There was some action at night as well - about five police cars chasing a speeding car through downtown - I am guessing he had to be doing well over 100 km/h through the streets of downtown. Overall I really enjoyed Wellington, very nice city.

Today we left the camp just after 10 am. We drove up to Mount Victoria to have a 360 degree view of Wellington, snapped a few pictures there and then had a late breakfast and coffee with a view. Apparently they also filmed some Lord of the Rings scenes there. Then we headed North out of Wellington while looking for a dump station which turned out to be an experience - took us almost an hour to find one. To make a long story short, by the time we got going it was almost two o'clock.

We drove about 355 km today and are camped just south of Lake Taupo. I was hoping we would make to Waikite Valley thermal pools where we could have a soak, but it would be another hour drive and the pools close at 9 pm. Oh well, we will soak later.

I sure miss the South Island. As I mentioned before the traffic down on South Island was virtually nonexistent. Here we were driving in traffic all day today. To make things worse it is Easter weekend this weekend and people are already traveling today. There was police cars everywhere today. Just as we're were getting close to our destination tonight we passed a police cruiser parked on the side of the road in the opposite direction. As we passed him I kept my eye on him in the rear view mirror - not sure why one does that. Just as I lost sight of him in the mirror and forgot about him, flashing lights appeared. Mr. NZ police comes flying by and a whole bunch of cars in front of us and then just turns his lights off and keeps driving in front of the line up. I kept thinking what that was all about when he pulls off on a wide shoulder and waits until we get close and pulls us off. I knew I didn't do anything wrong but still the hart rate went up a bit and I kept wondering if there was some NZ rule that I might have missed. He walks up to the window and asked me if I am traveling together with the caravan behind me. I told him that I am not. He then told me that I should take every opportunity to pull to the side of the road and let she traffic behind me pass. Then he told me that it is probably more a fault of the caravan behind me that there was such a line behind us. And he was right, of course. After I shared this episode with the lady at the camp office - she told me that the police is out because of the long weekend. Apparently last year they had no fatalities from accidents during the Easter weekend and they want to keep it that way this ear. In New Zealand you can drive speed limit plus ten. During long weekends it is speed limit plus four - if you are over you get a ticket. Good job NZ police.

Well it is quarter to one and I should go to sleep. But before I go here is couple of things we learned so far. The Kiwis use "cheers" instead of thanks. And do you know what whey call shopping carts? Trundler or trolley - Phillip and Michael sure finds this funny, especially trundler.

Well I am off to our small bed. Tomorrow if I get to it I will share some more stuff.

Here is a couple of pictures of Wellington.