National Park - Wellington - Picton

Nov 6th National Park – Wellington

On a rainy day there is nothing better to do than be on the warm coach bus driving to your next destination. Really. It is great to not miss out on good weather. So on our rainy trek south to Wellington we passed through small towns of:

Waimaru – a former army base & training entre

Ohakune – ski village for Mt Ruapehu, with apparently the most carrots in NZ with of course a massive carrot 

Taihape – massive gumboot, notorious for their big gumboot festival every year which raises money & awareness for childhood cancer

Mangaweka – Airliner plane turned into the local café

Hunterville – Hunterway dogs, dog breed mixed for all the best combinations for sheep herding (funny, scruffy looking dog if you ask me)

Bulls – all of the shops/businesses have –bull in the name

Ohatikei – airforce base & training, storage for some 30 5 million dollar fighter jets that cannot be sold off as they are too old, not the state of the art of the times & no one wants them

Papapaumu – means food in the oven in Maori small Kapiti coast village with the most retired people of NZ

Poirurua – first suburb into Wellington

Upgrading the railway into Wellington for commuters & prepping for the world cup (along with everything else in NZ!)

& of course don’t forget the thousands if not millions of sheep along the hillsides, paddocks & well, EVERYWHERE!!

Arrived into the wet, windy Wellington which of course it is famous for. Once at the YHA Wellington which is the nicest, cleanest & largest YHA hostel in NZ. Off to wander the city down Courtenay Place, Lambton Quay & out to the Old Parliament Buildings, the Beehive where Prime Minister John Key does all his hard work .

On to the most amazing, & 6 levels of Te Papa Museum, learning all about NZ wildlife, & how NZ was formed, + earthquakes/volcanoes & natural disaster concerns in NZ. Good to know.

Nov 7 -8th Wellington

A sleep in (what what is that?!?) Then off to take in the free (which Wellington is full of thank goodness) open day tour of the beehive, old parliament buildings, Old St. Paul’s church & then up for a hike to the Botanic Gardens. Through the Rose Garden, bush walkways, great benches, I enjoyed the great sunny weather with Anja & Liz. With the Cable under routine maintenance Sunday, that led to a repeat trip on Monday to ensure & enjoy the scenic ride with great view of the harbor, with ferries coming in and planes flying into the airport on the other side of Mt Victoria. Down the hill & through the old neighbourhoods, by parts of Victoria University & back downtown along Cuba street over to Oriental Parade to take a break, watch the kayakers, kids playing along the beach & the calm blue water of the harbor. Back for more levels of the Te Papa this time for Maori Culture, Pacific Ocean navigation, moving to NZ in the last century, & NZ pop culture.

Off for dinner with Peter & Kathy Johnston, plus daughter, Leah & son-in-law, Roger. Dad’s colleague & friend from his conference back in March here in Christchurch, NZ. Good meal at the Tasting Room & good company  with a warm welcome to return to stay in Wellington.



On Monday, I enjoyed a free bagel breakfast at the YHA (starting to thoroughly value free stuff of every kind) then off for a great sunny day walking through the civic centre, harbor, the Museum of City & Sea & back to the Rose & Botanic Garden & more Te Papa Museum (could do it every day I swear!). Then fantastic cooked dinner with Liz, Anja & Fredriek of yummy risotto 

 



Tuesday November 9th – Wellington – Picton – Nelson

Super early shuttle to the InterIslander ferry wharf in Wellington to take the ferry Kaitikai over to Picton. Out of the harbor, across Cook Strait, through Tory Channel, Queen Charlotte Sounds & on to the small town of Picton where the InterIslander & Bluebridge ferries dock in. The land here includes rolling green hills right into the most awesome green- blue sea, and we even had some dolphins alongside for the trip.

Once in Picton, & quickly on the Magic bus we headed southwest to our destination of Nelson. But not before a tasty cheap wine tasting at the Boulevin vineyard in Marlborough Sounds ….hmmmmmmmm & then of course we all had a nap. Now that we are in Nelson we are hoping for a nice sunny day for our cruise & walk in the Abel Tasman National Park tomorrow.