Wellington

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The Haka

After a lunch in Kaikoura we caught a bus north to the small town of Picton. We checked into our hostel and had some dinner there. For possibly the first time on the trip we were the only guests in the entire hostel. We stocked up on a feed of beer and played cards in our giant free house for the evening as we had a ferry to catch the next day.

We were able to walk down to the ferry terminal the next day which was very swanky. We were catching the Interislander to Wellington in the North Island. The ferry's are absolutely massive and cover the 92km journey in about 3 hours. The journey has spectacular scenery and takes you through Marlborough Sounds and across the Cook Strait.

Once we had arrived and collected our baggage we caught a cab to the absolutely massive YHA in Wellington. Wellington is the capital of New Zealand, with a population of over 400,000.

We organised a rental car for the day we were leaving Wellington (More on that later) and as we still has some time that evening we headed to the National Museum of New Zealand called Te
Picton Port
Picton Port
Papa (Our Place). The museum was huge and excellent. After that we headed to the cinema to watch Shrek The Third. We had a few beers as well that evening before hitting the hay.

The next day we made our way down to Wellington Cable Car. It operates from Lambton Quay, the main shopping street, and Kelburn, a suburb in the hills overlooking the city centre. It rises 120m and is seen as the symbol of Wellington. We hopped off at the top and after taking in the view we walked back down to street level through the Botanic gardens.

From there we went on a bit of a sightseeing walking tour that took in the New Zealand Parliament more affectionately known as the Bee Hive. Next stop was the Sacred Heart Cathedral before the National Archives. We visited an exhibtion on the evolution of New Zealand's Symbols including the All Blacks and then viewed the states founding document - The Treaty of Waitangi.

After that we wandered down to Old St Pauls, an amazing old gothic Anglican Church. Not done there we caught a bus out to Wellington Zoo in an attempt to see the so
Te Papa Tongarewa - The Museum of New Zealand
Te Papa Tongarewa - The Museum of New Zealand
far elusive Kiwi. The zoo was excellent but unfortuantely the Kiwis are housed in a nocturnal room i.e. dark room and much as we tried we couldn't spot any.

We collected a case of beer on our way back to the hostel and watched some TV before some cards and beers. The following day was a bit of an admin day. After scoping out guidebooks for South America, Ciaran decided that his beloved grey jeans may not last the remainder of the trip (or the remainder of that day for that matter) and picked himself up a new pair.

We headed to the internet for a while and then had a couple of pizzas for dinner. It was a big night not only because it was Saturday but also because we had managed to nab ourselves tickets to the All Blacks versus France game. The game was on at Westpac stadium a short walk from the hostel. New Zeland had destroyed a much understrength French team in the first test at Eden Park, Auckland 42-11 the week before.

We were hoping for a much improved French performance and a closer game. After a beer in the street
Pre Game Show
Pre Game Show
beside the stadium we headed in and watched the pre-match show as the stadium filled. It was a sell out with close to 36,000 people there. After the amazing intensity of the Haka, see video, the game started nice and close.

However very soon the All Blacks began to dominate and this continued for much of the game. The result was a thumping for France of epic proportions - 61-10. We got to see some world class rugby from the All Blacks but a fairly easy win over a poor French team.

The next day we were up early to check out and were collected by our car rental company where we were introduced to our little pink chariot.

Next stop Ohakune...

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