Seals, and the trip to get to them!

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Wednesday 22nd February:

For the first time in 6 weeks, our trip ashore today was affected by rain to the point where our plastic ponchos had to be wheeled into service. The clouds covered all the mountain peaks - and there are a lot of them - and our 4x4 Toyota Land Cruiser took us straight up into them. So what should have been amazing panoramic views over both the north and south islands, was a misty view of not very much.

We had an 'interesting' group in our vehicle. Just 6 guests but two of them were huge. They managed to make me feel positively skinny! At the first viewing point the rest of us got out but those two just wedged themselves into the front and stayed there. And began moaning. Kept on moaning. And never stopped moaning. I don't know where they had got the idea from but they seemed to think the 4-wheel drive vehicles were just what you needed for a ride along the prom to some sandy beach where a group of seals had conveniently moved in. But the 4-wheel drive vehicles weere needed because the terrain we crossed was blinkin' amazing! Tiny dirt tracks up in the mountains, seriously steep slopes to drive down to the beach that has no roads, just a couple of miles of unbelievably craggy coastline to negotiate. The marine reserve posted road signs that all said comforting things like "dangerous driving conditions", "take extreme care", "4-wheel drive vehicles only allowed". We have never off-roaded on such dramatic terrain and although my bum left the bench on a number of occasions and my head hit the roof on several others, we absolutely loved it. And the reward at the end of the journey was well worth it. You could get very close to the seals who really weren't at all bothered by our presence. Our guide stopped along the way and picked wild Manuka leaves which he then brewed up for us on the beach. Manuka tea is delicious and really refreshing. So too were the fresh baked peach and raspberry muffins they served us. And then we were back in the Land Cruiser for an even longer journey back along the coast. Negotiating the Devil's Gate was seriously hairy! We also got a close-up look at an active fault line in the cliffs where you can see the two tectonic plates buffeting up again each other. If you ever come to Wellington and get the chance to visit Tongue Point, do it. It's absolutely excellent.

Our guide then dropped us off in the centre of Wellington so we had a bit of a mooch around and then found the cable car up to the botanical gardens and the planetarium. The planetarium was excellent - a bit like watching 3-D without the need for glasses. You really felt like you were watching the planets moving about in front of your eyes. The only problem was the weird noises in there. It sounded like someone kept dropping asleep and snoring. And the sound appeared to be coming from my seat. Can't imagine why!!

We're getting the full New Zealand experience today with a Maori troupe putting on a show tonight. They boarded the boat a couple of days ago and we met two of the guys in the gym. They are amazing specimens of the human race. So incredibly fit and graced with the most gorgeous bodies including very, very sexy thighs! Just like my lovely Richard's. (Not!!)

Tomorrow is Dunedin. And no, we hadn't heard of it either but we're going on a train ride along a river gorge and the pictures of it look pretty darned good. We'll let you know tomorrow if it actually is.

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