Wonderful Wellington

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Dean was waiting at the Port Terminal, having spent an interesting afternoon tackling the hills and one way streets of Wellington in the hire car. He wasn't particularly confident he could drive to the hotel without detouring via Napier but we eventually made it to the quiet suburb of Thorndon. Accommodation had been hard to find because it was the middle weekend of the NZ school holidays, the WOW exhibition was drawing in mega crowds and throw in a few conventions and a cruise ship - the place was buzzing! Allocated adjoining rooms on the ninth floor of a recently rebadged hotel, we had a brilliant view of Wellington. Adding to the girls' excitement was the little note in the room informing us of the trial of free wi-fi for all guests. I'm sure three days of our teens connecting to the google world would have them regretting that decision.

A walk around the neighbourhood to familiarise ourselves was quite pleasant and we all appreciated the San Francisco-look of the houses clinging to the hills. We were close to the 'Beehive', old St Pauls and NZ Rugby House. A nearby gym was also available for use by hotel guests so the girls made plans to visit it the next day. We had a fairly early night after a tasty dinner of noodles.

Dean and I took a walk into town the next morning (down hill) for breakfast. We could have been in Melbourne - every second place was a coffee shop - so, spoilt for choice we opted for a small café and planned the day's tourist trail. Because it was so early, we decided to continue further into town. Stopping for a look in the old bank arcade, remnants of Plimmer's Ark under the floor was an interesting historical detour. The tourist information centre was huge, full of stuff but rather warm, so we didn't spend too long in there. We popped into what I later decided was the fairly underwhelming City Gallery, although the interactive Lego exhibit (all white pieces) was a pretty neat idea. Walking back along the harbour front and then past the Beehive we made it back to the hotel just before the girls arrived after their workout.

The next stop on our itinerary was the Te Papa Museum. Rated very highly as one of the 'must do activities in Wellington', we dragged the girls along to what we promised was going to be an interactive journey of discovery. Early indications were good -- there were definitely lots of things to see. However, the inevitable occurred and the girls only just held it together for the couple of hours we spent wandering around. At one point they declared that it was reminiscent of a school excursion, so we decided to go out for lunch. With Dean declaring that there were plenty of places 'just around the corner', we soon found ourselves in the bar district with most places closed, so we jumped into the car and headed for Cuba Street where we also found cafes closing because it was past lunch. If we were in Melbourne, it was the Melbourne of twenty years ago now. We eventually found a place still open that catered for everybody and had a toilet. The afternoon was spent with a little shopping trip and ended with the purchase of a lovely pair of wedges.

It's been a few weeks since I began writing this. I just can't seem to finish it, so I'm going to resort to the old teacher's trick - the acrostic. A tried and tested winner of a lesson - it never fails!

W - windy, yes, but also wonderful. Slightly scary at the airport.

E - eating options abound! Cuba Street caters for just about everybody.

L - loved the walk up through the cemetery and to the Botanic Gardens.

L - lights - the 'green walk' signal in the parliament area (based on a Kate Sheppard image) is a brilliant idea.

I - International World Press Photographic exhibition at the Fine Arts Gallery. Fantastic.

N - netball. I would love to catch a Vixens v Pulse match one long weekend. Although the sports news is 98% rugby, the girls get more air time here than at home. And this is the off season!

G - going underground. The market, that is. Coffee, skirts, craft. Jane v Girls. Jane won. Girls grizzled. They thought they were going to some sort of Asian market and were highly disappointed. But it really had some great stuff. NZ is the home of the best skirts in the world.

T - Thorndon. Quiet. Home of NZ Rugby, parliament and a couple of beautiful churches. Also some great architectural styles.

O - Old St Pauls. I tried to visit this beautiful old church, however a wedding was in progress so I didn't get to see inside nor visit the shop. I had wanted to purchase a Christmas decoration. Next time. I did buy a rugby playing santa at the tourist info place for the Christmas tree this year.

N - Not interested in AFL. Much. We viewed the grand final at some backpackers hotel with a few other Victorians. Another Hawthorn win.

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