Wellington Crossing
1/12 Sunday It was a long drive from Napier to Wellington, which is all the way on the Southern tip of the north island so we had a very hearty breakfast of eggs, bacon, bangers, mushrooms, tomatoes, cereal, toast, juice and our favorite… lattes. The drive took 4.5 hours and we found the rain again. This was a little disappointing since we traveled over a small mountain range and the low cloud cover limited the view. We arrived in Wellington, stopped in a café to get our bearings and had a Latte and a chocolate brownie with fresh cream. We chose a hotel from our book and find it to be a half a block away. It is the West Plaza Hotel. We check in and it’s raining but the forecast is for clearing skies approaching. We’re going to be here two nights. It stays light until almost 9 pm. So we head out for an evening walk to check things out around 6 pm. Its Sunday so a lot of shops are closed but the cafes are open and so is the theatre. Wellington is NZ’s capitol and to me has a more traditional and historic English flavor to it. It’s easy to navigate and quite fun to walk among the high-rise buildings although it doesn’t feel like a big city (it is NZ’s second largest next to Auckland). We are looking for a place to eat as we pass by a small Italian restaurant, a little hole in the wall called Nicolini’s. A few people are leaving so I ask if the food is good and it receives very positive reviews. One lady swoons over a fish dish with a sambooka sauce and capers that Lisa chooses for her meal. We stop in and our luck on the timing finds us with an immediate table for two. We’ve also decided to see a movie after dinner and we’ve pre-purchased the tickets so we let them know in advance and our service is “spot-on”. Garlic bread, beers, wine, pasta, fish and we’re topped off and headed for our movie, which begins at 9:10 pm. An American film by Michael Moore called “Bowling for Columbine”. The movie lets out about midnight and we’re done for the day. Wellington’s streets are quiet, the rain has stopped and it’s time to rest. 1/13 Monday Rested we’re up and ready to explore. Wellington has risen to greet us with a bustling Monday morning. I exchange some money at the “West Pac Trust” and we find a café for breakfast. “Mr. Bun” sits on a busy intersection that is ripe for people watching. We find the place next to the window looking out over the intersection. The café has velvet covered well-cushioned chairs and we spend an hour enjoying our breakfast and discussing last night’s movie. I’ve decided to get a hair cut and upon a recommendation from the front desk at the hotel I find myself now sporting a much shorter bit of hair and a more streamlined look which I’m happy to have. The girl who cut my hair was very nice and we talked about some politics and geography. “Chad’s Haircuts”. Today is clearing but cold and windy. We change from shorts to pants and we’re back out tramping around town. We go to the museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. It is for the most part free of charge and offers a lot of displays and artwork covering the NZ Maori heritage, natural history and natural environment. We spend several hours inside and then hunger pulls us out to the Wellington Brewery located close to the museum. We have beers and an antipasto plate which has a variety of onions, olives, salami, breads and marinated peppers. We enjoy a very relaxing light lunch and take in the beauty of the harbor, which has a lot more blue sky showing now. Afterward we walk the rest of the wharf area and then meander back up to our hotel through downtown. We’re a little windblown and head upstairs to relax (a nap for me). Around 8 pm we head out to find food and eat at a locals favorite restaurant. We sample Southern Indian food, which is quite delicious. Chicken curry, spicy lamb, it’s all good. After dinner we tramp around looking for another nightspot to checkout and then sweet (somewhat off key) sounds of karaoke draw me into a place I failed to get the name of. Soon I’m singing Elvis’ “All Shook Up” and then sing a duet with a local patron name Sarah. It’s a bit of fun and Lisa is very entertained. We leave on a high note. As we walk out we are reminded that all of the wonderful singing inside is being broadcast to the city streets – which luckily are mostly empty. We’re setting the alarm for 6:30 am again. Tomorrow is our ferry crossing from the North to the South Island. We’ll say farewell to the North Island, which we have enjoyed quite a lot and look forward to more adventure to the South. 1/14 Tuesday We arrive early at the inter-island ferry. We’ll be taking the car and ourselves across the Cook Strait. The rain has found us again and has brought a friend with it… the wind. The seas are expected to be approximately 3 meters in swell. This is a first for me and I’m very excited. The ferry crossing was AWESOME! The ocean is truly in charge as it moves our ship easily in the 9-foot swells. At some points the bow of the boat would lift and drop 15 – 20 feet in either direction and create the feeling as if we were on a rollercoaster. Some people didn’t feel so well while this was going on. We became a little queasy but we headed out to the open air of the back of the ship and we felt fine soon. The ship moved up and down and slid side to side in the swell. We plodded our way across “Cook’s Strait” and the open sea. As we found our way to the other island the skies cleared and we caught a small nap on the sun deck.