8/9 December 2024 -New Zealand- North Island – Wellington

8 December 2024

We woke to a grey day and after breakfast we packed the car. We were driving to Wellington, the capital of NZ which was likely to take 4.5 hours. The largest populated city is Auckland which has about 1.6m residents, Wellington has about 220,000 in the city and Christchurch is the second most populated city with about 380,000.

We had decided to take the Route 1 all the way and surprisingly it is not dual carriageway until the last 19 miles when you join the Kirpiti Highway. We  therefore drove mostly on single carriageway roads with speed limits from 50km in towns and villages we passed through to a maximum of 100km when not. We passed through lots of farmland with cattle, sheep and tree plantations and Bulls. Timber is a major product in NZ and one of their biggest exports.

There are lots of hills and mounds and the odd mountain ridge we had to pass through. The towns looked quite old fashioned with one story buildings with the names of the shops at the top. It looked slightly American. We stopped for lunch at a café for a quick bite and then continued.

Wellington sits in a u-shaped bowl and we came in and found our hotel which sits on a hill looking down. It has a chocolate hour between 4-5.00pm where you can eat chocolates and cake and dip fruit in the chocolate fountain. I had to take the car back to the airport which meant driving along the waterfront and centre and then to the airport on the southwest corner of the bay. You could see it was windy and there were waves in the bay. I dropped the car off and got a cab back.

The hotel had a gym, a pool and a sauna. We therefore went and did some exercise and then had a swim and a sauna which shook off our journey.

We went for a drink before supper in the bar on the 5th floor which had a window overlooking the city and we sat there looking out – see picture of the day. Amongst the city blocks are some of these Victorian Style cottages. We then had supper but as we were eating the rain came in and we could see the wind blowing the rain across the city. We were here and look forward to exploring tomorrow.

9 December 2024

Our guidebook describes Wellington on a sunny windless day as being up there with the best of them. However, sadly windless days are not the norm as it is infamous for two things: its frequent tremors and umbrella shedding gales that barrel through with regularity. As cities go it is quite small but its downtown area gives it a bigger city buzz. It has museums, theatres, galleries and a kickin caffeine and craft beer scene.  

We expected a grey day but the sun was out when we woke and after breakfast we headed out to explore walking down the hill from our hotel into the city. We soon found Cuba Street known for its cafés and bars and restaurants – the cool place to hang out. It was very colourful and only the cafes were open at this time. We walked down to the waterfront and Queens Wharf and I am sure I have run along this front believe it or not on a treadmill in a gym in the UK which has a moving image as you run. We saw docks and ferries and enjoyed walking along the front. There was quite a wind blowing and it was good seeing the buildings and cranes and looking into the city we could see the office buildings and apartment blocks. We continued walking along and took in the city in whilst conscious of the curving u shaped barrier of the hills around the bay. We then came across Te Papa (translated as treasure box) – New Zealand’s National Museum. It has a large collection of Māori artifacts.

We first of all saw the Gallipoli Exhibition which I think was a special. This was very interesting and had some giant size models of individuals referred to. They were so lifelike. It also made you realise what a terrible loss of life in a rather disastrous campaign which ended in withdrawal. My grandfather on my father’s side went to Gallipoli (as part of the British contingent) and survived thankfully. It therefore felt quite real.

We then went into the nature area which had a lot of information on the wildlife in NZ. There was a lot on birds and the amazing actual size Albatrosses were fantastic. They can get up to a 3 m wingspan and can weigh up to 13kg. There was also a section on volcanoes which makes you realise NZ is quite an active volcano zone even now.

The Māori Artifacts were good with displays of Waka (including war canoes) other sailing type boats they used, houses and huts and all sort of implements used for hunting, fishing, cooking, boating etc.

After a number of hours, we had had enough and headed into town where we walked the streets and eventually found a good café/restaurant for lunch which was very good. We then walked to the main shopping streets and walked their length. Jules was not that impressed and then we walked around the front again and headed back up to our hotel for the chocolate hour. Dipping pineapple chunks in the chocolate fountain was delicious.

We would have liked to have seen more but had limited time. We went to the gym again and sauna before having a light supper. We needed to get packed as we have to get an early cab tomorrow.

We take the ferry early tomorrow for South Island which will be interesting to compare. The trip is about 3.5 hours and goes across the Cook straight so I hope for Jules’s sake it is not rough!!

Opportunity Year Two

In year two I will be going from New Zealand in early January 2025 across to Sydney and up the Eastern Australian Coast, Indonesia and then through Bali, Singapore and on to Thailand to end year two about the end of November 2025. I will need some more crew.

If there is any interest do email me at  hine.nick9@gmail.com  

The blog will continue as we continue the journey. If you have any comments or suggestions about the blog then do email me on hine.nick9@gmail.com