Wellington in sunshine

After yesterday's rain, Saturday turned into a beautiful sunny day, ideal for exploring the city. After breakfast we went up to the Botanical Gardens high above the city by cable car ($3 single). From the top there is a very clear panoramic view of the city and harbour. The walk back down into the city through the gardens was wonderful with plenty of shade along the leafy pathways. Unfortunately, through an error in navigation on Roger's part we ended up at the wrong end of the gardens and spent an hour retracing our steps to find the right exit. In the middle of the gardens it is hard to believe you are in the heart of a city as we saw no-one for about 15 minutes of walking at one point.

Rain, rain, rain.....

Today we travelled down from Taupo to Wellington by car, a distance of 355kms. The weather was appalling with persistent heavy rain all the way down. We have a great hotel room overlooking the harbour and as we look out now, the lights of Wellington are shining across the bay.

After we arrived we went to the Museum of New Zealand (Te Papa Tongarewa) which is simply awesome, as New Zealanders seem to say all the time. It is without doubt, the very best museum we have ever visited. We have to go back again tomorrow as there is so much to see and do there. Many of the exhibits are interactive and it would be a marvellous place to take a school trip!

See http://www.tepapa.govt.nz/Tepapa/English/