Okay, I’m almost done…I swear!
We arrived in Wellington really late Saturday night. We didn’t see much on the cab ride to the hotel and went straight to bed as soon as we got there. So when I opened up the curtains in my room the next morning, my jaw hit the floor! This picture doesn’t even do it justice…
After catching up on some work and calling home, Ellie and I headed out to explore the capital city of New Zealand. I’d heard the it referred to as “Wet and Windy Wellington,” but we didn’t see any of that the first 2 days we were there. All blue skies and sunshine…
We didn’t make it very far before we got hungry…and thirsty. There were so many adorable cafes on the water–it was hard to decided where to stop.
In the afternoon we took a Wellington city bus tour. Apparently the morning tours are more popular because Ellie and I were the only ones on this one. Yes, it was as awkward as it sounds. A 60 person bus and the two of us were in the front row next to our tour guide, Dennis. He was a sweet little old man, but also so hard to understand. His voice was very high and his accent was much sharper than the Australian ones I’d gotten used to the week before. It literally took me 10 minutes to realize “leeft” mean “left” and not “lift”. Let’s just say there was a lot of fake laughing and head nodding coming from the front row.
All awkwardness aside, Dennis was a wealth of knowledge and took us to some pretty amazing lookout points.
From the top of Mount Victoria…
Then we moved on to see some of the Lord of the Rings sights. Yes, LOTRs was filmed in Wellington and all of Peter Jackson’s offices are there as well. Here is a shot of the green screen at the studios. You can’t tell from this picture, but it was the size of a football field–it just kept going.
We ran into this crazy guy at the Weta Cave. I actually have no idea who this character is because I’ve never seen the movies. I know, I know…
Then there was Cable Car Lane…
The highlight of our time with Dennis was when he parked the bus out by the airport to watch the planes take off. We didn’t say anything to lead him to believe we were interested in planes or airports…I think it’s just one of Dennis’ favorite pastimes. It was the cutest thing ever when he did a play-by-play commentary of a Bowing 747 taking off. I have the video if you’re interested 🙂
So after we parted ways with our buddy Dennis we ended the evening at the Hops Garden. Tapas and beer…ah, what the heck.
Day 2 in Wellington was spent on…brace yourselves…another wine tour! The first one was such a success and I’d always heard New Zealand wines were pretty spectacular, so we gave it a shot. We took the train about an hour east through the mountains until we reached Martinborough. Our bus driver picked us up there along with the rest of the group. And an amazing group it was! I’m pretty sure we ended the day with 5 new gay best friends. Gay Australian best friends at that.
Winery number one…so cute.
I forgot to take pictures at second winery, but it was great as well. And of course it wouldn’t have been a normal day if we didn’t stuff our faces somewhere. Lunch back in downtown Martinborough…
I walked around this darling little main street to get some photos, and just look what I found. A little piece of home 🙂
And back to the wine…
The gang!
On our way back to the train station, I got Pam (the bus driver and tour guide) to pull over so I could snap this shot. It’s one of my favorites from the whole trip. Can you see the single cow grazing on top of the hill?
And here’s my little 90-year old friend, brown baggin it. Oh wait, that’s Ellie 🙂
There was some arm wrestling. This particular match we like to call “Ginger Wars”…
I found Napolean back at the train station…
This is when we found out that there wasn’t actually a train coming. Thankfully a bus would be making a detour to come get all of us an hour later. In the meantime…
The bus eventually arrived and we were the lucky ones that got seated next to someone with serious body odor. Hooray!
While the views were beautiful, the road was a bit windy for my taste. We were definitely popping some motion sickness pills…
And I think that’s just about all, folks. Wellington was beautiful and I can’t wait to go back to New Zealand. Probably the South Island next time if I get the choice!
I’m also pleased to report that I made it through 2 weeks halfway across the world without being terribly homesick. Of course I missed Chris and everything at home, but I was somehow able to fight my usual feelings and have a wonderful time. I definitely couldn’t have done it without Ellie though. She’s so much more adventurous and she kept me going when I might have stopped, had I been there alone. I’m so thankful I have her to travel with and now I know every detail about her life–and vice versa. Seriously! I need to a list of interesting facts about myself in preparation for our next trip 🙂
Another great thing about this trip is that it really made me more accepting of the idea of living abroad…and more specifically, Australia. I think we can do it for a couple of years and I think we can love it 🙂 The people are so nice and welcoming…and it’s got most of the comforts of home. Plus what an adventure it would be! We still don’t know if or when it will happen, but I’m feeling much better about the opportunity.
I think I’ll leave you with my favorite beer of the trip…Leffe Radieuse. It’s fruity and you can really only drink just one, but it’s delicious! I’m going to keep my eyes peeled for it here in the States…
