Why does always rain on me?

Wednesday 28th January

We left a sunny Taupo and headed south down Highway One towards Wellington, five hours of driving and a six hour journey with breaks. Driving is easy in New Zealand, the speed limit is 100 kph and the roads are never really busy compared to the UK.

Our journey took us through some stunning countryside and spectacular views of volcanoes. At least that's what the guide book said, all we saw was lots of mist and very heavy rain! We did catch a glimpse of Mount Ruapehu through the clouds and on the the distant snowy peak we saw Frodo and Sam Gamgee being pursued by Orcs.

We passed through several small towns, which look more like rural America than England. They have a strip of shops and fast food outlets along the highway, and will never win any prizes for outstanding architecture. Corrugated iron is a major feature of many buildings, even civic buildings and churches have galvanised roofs. They even make sculptures out of it beside the roads. Taihape, a small town halfway to Wellington, has a sculpture of a big welly boot beside the road, since it is the self proclaimed gumboot capital of the world! 

Since we were in a hurry and hungry, breakfast was at MacDonalds and lunch at KFC, please pray for our souls. It's hard to find muesli and fruit when you are driving with a mission.

Arriviving in Wellington at about two o'clock, we checked into the Ibis in the city centre. Wellington is much smaller than Auckland, and I immediate liked it. The waterfront is only a short walk away from our Inis hotel on Featherstone Street, and the old harbour buildings have been converted into restaurants and the city museum. The main attraction on the harbour is Te Papa, the national museum of New Zealand. It is a modern well laid out and fascinating museum. There is a new exhibition to commemorate the one hundredth anniversary of Gallipoli, a battle where many thousands of ANZACs died. Huge realistic sculptures of the soldiers tell the story, they look so realistic  it is very moving.

After getting our fill of facts we went to be entertained by watching the Revenant. The bear attack scene is too realistic, I couldn't watch It all! We left the cinema exhilarated and exhausted and hungry. Walking down Willis Street we found the Great India restaurant. I had a Bhuna Josh and Julie had a lamb Birynani, and it was THE BEST INDIAN MEAL I HAVE EVER EATEN. No doubt about it, the best.

A great start to our visit to Wellington.

Wellington harbour city centre

Mural showing the Jolly Fisherman and his girlfriend