Leaving North Island

Leaving North Island

I'm writing this on the Interisland Ferry between North and South Islands, experiencing North Sea like weather conditions. Driving from Napier to Wellington was a straightforward experience except for some very picturesque but winding roads over forested hills. Hairpins following articulated timber lorries were a bit hair-raising (especially after seeing one of them on its side earlier in the holiday!). We found the Rydges Hotel quite easily and took the car back and explored a bit of Wellington's redeveloped seafront on a delightful calm afternoon with the sun shining and the sea flat calm, and then......

Yesterday showed us why Wellington is nicknamed the “Windy City”, although the sun was still out and it was quite warm it blew a gale all day. At times the wind was so strong that it was difficult to walk upright. We had decided, wisely as it turned out, to spend the morning in the Te Papa museum, New Zealand's national museum. This is a very innovative and well thought out museum, with a lot of areas for children to carry out activities. Although in some ways unusual to European eyes it is one of the best museums I can recall. Most of the artefacts (especially European ones) date from the last 150 years with a considerable number from our lifetime. The Maori artefacts are sometimes older but many are marked as age unknown or unknown provenance. The number of artefacts is very low by the standards of, say, the British Museum but they are displayed in such a way as to tell the story of New Zealand very effectively

After about 4 hours we were museumed out, and decided to go to the Botanical Gardens for a walk. Wellington Botanical Gardens are very large and built on the side of a steep hill. Unusually we decided to start at the top and work down (sounds an easy concept but Sue is noted for doing it the other way round), so we got the cable car to the top. Thankfully in the light of the wind, the cable car is a funicular and provided an easy way to the top.

By the time we had walked down through masses of flowering hydrangeas, begonias and bizzy lizzies (strange in January) we were shattered. The rest of the day we put our feet up and just went out for a pizza last night. Anyone for “sheepshank” pizza (topped with shredded lamb shank)? Sue, for a start!! This must be what is meant by fusion food.

We will be arriving in South Island shortly, and look forward to some stunning scenery. North Island has set the bar high but we're hopeful South Island will more than match it.