Wellington Feb-08

The ferry ride lasted 3½ hours from Picton to Wellington – we anticipated magnificent views of Queen Charlotte Sound & areas from the Lord of the Rings movie. It wasn’t to be; we awoke to rain and strong winds! Fellow passengers at the terminal were eager to relate stories of bad crossings including a trip about 20 years ago when a ferry sank in stormy weather! Undaunted, we had no real choice, we boarded the Aratere Ferry. Helen & Liz found seats in the forward lounge with full ocean view; Tom found a comfortable theatre seat to relax & read the paper. I donned my coat, took my camera & went outside! A true Newfie enjoys the ocean wind & spray on her face; not to mention I most likely would have been sick had I stayed inside!
It was too bad the weather had not cooperated for the cruise out of Picton harbour. However by the time we reached open sea, the sun broke through and even with small rolling sea swells it was still a most pleasant cruise. We docked on schedule. Our luggage was waiting by the time we walked to the terminal. Tom picked up our new AVIS rental, this time a new Toyota Highlander SUV a better riding and driving vehicle, and we drove to our hotel downtown, a short driving distance from the pier. Convenient but a major step down after the Yacht Club; we survived it for one night. It was clean and we could walk to downtown! Helen & Liz walked to the Te Papa, NZ’s national museum on the waterfront, an easy walk from our hotel. The best part - free admission & open until 6 pm. The museum is dedicated to the native culture of NZ. Body tattoos are an important part of that culture, with certain symbols applied to various parts of the body, depending upon your gender and tribal ancestry. Tom and I walked downtown to ride the cable car; $5 for a return ticket to Victoria Lookout for a panoramic view of the city and a visit to the botanic gardens.
Wellington is more “European” than other cities we’ve visited in NZ. It is modern, a business centre with many pedestrian-only areas, and of course, the capital of NZ. The streets are narrow but bright. Buildings have refined architecture; many fashion boutiques, trendy local fashion & design stores, and locally roasted coffee found on every street corner in a little bistro or cafe. We met an American lady on the cable car on her way home from work. We asked for a recommendation for dinner. She suggested “Leuven”, then phoned her husband to get the address, most helpful! The place was called Belgium Beer Cafe Leuven; the perfect setting for the end of our day in Wellington.
It was like stepping back into Luxembourg; a restaurant, open to the street, serving lighter fare with a Danish twist and premium Belgium beer. Our waitress, Jackie, had married a Dane, whose race according to her, had raped and pillaged NZ several centuries ago. I commented that at least she had a good lover. Her response .........” he used to be but I’ve a good memory”.
On the walk back to the hotel, we walked through Civic Square, with an interesting concept for a bridge linking the city to the sea. We stopped to enjoy the sunset and a race of dragon boats before continuing our walk. We decided to shop at New World Supermarket for a few breakfast items; only to meet up with Helen & Liz who had the same idea. We walked back to the hotel filling each other in on the joys of our afternoon in Wellington. Good night to day 1 North Island on our journey back to Auckland and our countdown to Saturday February 13th.