Wellington

Ferry crossing on Kaitaki (biggest ferry in NZ - up to 650 cars!)
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We crossed over from Picton to the North Island on the Ferry (enormous beast that swayed nicely across the waves of the Cook Strait) to Wellington. It was pretty grey on the first day, but when we woke up early the next day (YES! You heard right, early! although we have been setting the alarm clock and doing about 20 snooze button presses!), we were rewarded with lovely sunshine and we headed into the city to explore. We spent most of the day at the amazing Museum of New Zealand, or Te Papa. So much to see and so interesting and well laid out that we didn’t get to see nearly all of it but the kids had an amazing time in all the learning zones which are specifically set out for children. We learned loads about New Zealand and it was definitely a good thing to do. Evan also managed to pop into the HP office to sign the forms for his new job so it was a productive day.

The postcard photo from the botanics in Welly.
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In the mid afternoon and evening we drove around the twisty steep hilly roads of the city, past the Botanic Gardens and onto the Korari Wildlife Reserve, a 240 hectare area surrounding the north-eastern fringes of the city, where they are attempting to reintroduce native flora and fauna. We got there at dusk in order to listen to the birds, and got an amazing view of the whole of the tip of the North Island, the sea and beyond from the wind turbine on Brooklyn Hill – definitely the best view of Wellington and there some seriously strong gusts up there. We only spent 1 day in Windy Welly because we felt there was still too much to see and the days are fast running out.