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WELLINGTON AND ITS SURROUNDS
The last leg of our journey, staying a week with family in Wellington –David, Moana, and daughter Katrina. Day 1 was chill out day, time to reflect on what it would be like to live in New Zealand.
Living costs in New Zealand. Housing -The definite plus side is that you generally get a lot more house for your money here compared to the UK. As the population is just over 4 Million and the land area is greater than the UK, you tend to get a bigger plot of land for your house. It is common, instead of buying a ready built house, to buy a plot of land in a location you want, and get the house of your choice built on it. Builders will either build a house from a standard plan in their portfolio of plans, or you can pay more to have a unique design. Corrugated steel roofs are the norm, which is strange, but overall, you get much more than a standard UK 3 bedroom semi! Things that seem cheaper – meat, petrol, diesel. Things that are very much more expensive, tea,
Road north out of Wellington
Quite a climb on the way north from Wellingtoncoffee, processed food and tinned foods, shoes and clothing. Electrical goods are similar in price to the UK. I suppose it all depends on your income of course.
Day2. Trip to Cape Palliser
Much of the countryside in the North Island is very similar to the UK, but it does have mountain ranges This trip went though some of the more mountainous regions. We drove through the town of Martinborough which must have been designed by some former Brits, as its centre layout is based on a Union Jack - a central square with eight roads radiating from it. It was a nice town, with new executive housing being build around, but a bit far out from Wellington. Driving on towards the cape, we came across three lots of cattle being moved on the road, and one flock of sheep. Strange that your progress could be inhibited on a main road by this, but as traffic was light, I suppose it made sense for the farmers to do this. The sheep must have been in the process of being moved a long distance, as they were still being driven along on our return over an hour
The Wild West
One of three cattle drives we came across on the main road on our way to the cape. later! We stopped for lunch at a pub in Lake Ferry, having fish and chips and a beer, overlooking the sea pounding in on the coast. A quick walk on the beach, and on towards Cape Palliser. We passed through a couple of fishing villages on the way, and the preferred way of launching boats was with a bulldozer – tractors would just not do! When almost there, we stopped next to a colony of seals and took a few photos before moving on to our final destination at the Cape. The Cape is actually the most southerly point of the North Island and is further south than some towns on the South Island, e.g. Nelson and Blenheim. At the cape we climbed the 250 steps up to the lighthouse for the view, which was great, but was supplemented by a praying mantis on the platform. First wild one I have seen. After a thoroughly entertaining but tiring day, we returned back home to Whitby. The distance from Wellington to the Cape Palliser is about 100km each way if anyone wishes to attempt it. Home for a rest.
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