Dropping in on Wellington briefly

A beach in Wellington

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Today we drove down to Wellington.  The drive was fine, passed some nice looking towns on the way, and the road became a dual-carriageway, the first we have been on since leaving Auckland. 

Wellington seems a lovely place, though we only really had a glance at it.  We will look more closely when we return  from the south island.  The city was larger than I expected, with an impressive tower skyline.  As with the rest of New Zealand it seemed very clean and tidy, not at all like London.  It also seems to have a certain quaintness with the old houses dotted on the hillside and the street cafes and bars. 

We decided to head straight for the south island, and visit this north side more on our return.  I purchased the ticket which cost NZ$390 - thats about £160 for a single way far to the south island - very expensive, but essential. 

We then parked up just outside the centre, and I cooked lamb chops and veg by the side of the harbour!  Steve had to go for a walk with the kids, as I was worried with Matthew being in the motorhome with the stove on.  But well worth the effort, a lovely dinner.  Meat seems to taste better than in england, even better than organic meat in england I would argue. Lamb here is cheaper than chicken, you can probably work out why, so we tend to buy that or beef.

The ferry journey took 3 hours.  Steve was his normal travel-sick self, and absolutely no help whilst we were travelling. I was left to cope with the 2 kids alone whilst Steve fell asleep with an ashen face.  Luckily they had a play area which seemed to keep Matthew occupied, and LLoyd behaved himself fairly well, though stayed awake the whole journey.

When we reach Picton it is gone 9pm and pitch black.  We decide not to bother with the motor parks in Picton, suspecting they are all full of other people who have pre-booked.  We head to Blenheim.  Its not much fun driving in the dark, but at least both the children are now asleep.  We eventually find a site in Stony Creek just outside Blenheim, which does as an overnight stay.