http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Wellington-Region/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Oceania , New Zealand , North Island , Wellington Region en-us Sun, 03 Jan 2010 12:37:14 +0000 Sun, 03 Jan 2010 12:37:14 +0000 The Former Mike Brockie Arrives in Wellington You stood in the newsroom like a messenger from a sunnier land.Between a climb on a gravel road in the King Countryand a tailwind out of Lower Huttyoursquod pedalled away a few decades of worry.All you carried the sun lightly on your backa mind clean and clear as a backcountry moon.You were a modern whorsquod made the epic journey two and h http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Wellington-Region/Wellington/blog-460724.html Nor westerly winds have been buffeting me for days providing me with riding that has been at times exciting frightening and simply pleasant. From Palmerston North I took something called the Pahiatua Track which in fact is not a track but a perfectly good steep but sealed road . On a high ridge wind generators spun swiftly and a cold blast sent a chill through me and pushed the bike off its http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Wellington-Region/Featherston/blog-459980.html Itrsquos been a while since we last did a blog. We havenrsquot got much to write about however we though we would show you some of the eyesores around WellingtonhellipWersquore still working hard saving the pennies for our next big adventureshellipJulia is still working as a nanny enjoying the playgrounds and beaches during the weeks and exploring Wellington at the weekends. Dan on t http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Wellington-Region/Porirua/blog-439033.html Day 5 Patea to Palmerston North 140km Despite being a relatively straight forward cycle quite flat and a decent length it proved to be one of the most challenging days so far. It seemed to take forever with the route very uninteresting. The previous day we had had the backdrop of the spectacular Mount Egmont whereas day fives route consisted mostly of driving past farm after farm. As the day http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Wellington-Region/blog-436999.html Hey folksJust a quick note to say g'day and to get this thing kicked off. Hitting the road in a few days going to be a bit of a culture shock I think. After 20 days in Wellington I'm fighting off a cold Just a cold I swear it's just a cold and at times sub zero temperatures and will be heading to the rather more humid environment of Thailand and Bangkok. The weather has been somewhat 'chang http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Wellington-Region/blog-411357.html Hi all So we finally left the south island only to arrive to sweet but windy wellington.It's a wonderful city and we've been here for 1.5 weeks lookin' for work hard to find but still enjoying ourselves.We were able to see Grada last week yay and are also gettin' to some Irish music... awesome.Pam is here and it's just a really nice place.Enjoy the pics and talk soon smilesJess http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Wellington-Region/Wellington/blog-401291.html We decided to move on from Nelson on Saturday as it was raining all day and there was little prospect of an improvement for a few days. We had a fairly hairy drive along Queen Charlotte Drive with Lys clinging tightly to her arms rests but we arrived in one piece and saw some beautiful views of the Sound on the way. We stayed at the ferry port of Picton that night and headed south for Blenheim http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Wellington-Region/Wellington/blog-379184.html Well its 2 sleeps till I leave and I thought I would start by posting our costumes for Mardi Gras and a brief itinerary Feb 1618 Buenos AiresFeb 1820 Iguasso Falls ArgentinaFeb 2025 Rio de Janeiro MARDI GRASFeb 2527 UshuaiaFeb 27 Mar 10 AntarcticaMar 1021 Cuzco Macchu Picchu Inc a ruins Lake TiticacaMar 2130 Galapagos IslandsMar 31 April 6 AmazonApril 7 Santiag http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Wellington-Region/Wellington/blog-373448.html You will be pleased to know that the weather in Britain has made the news in New Zealand As you are all probably stuck at home in need of entertainment we felt duty bound to provide you with another blog.Highlights of the last couple of weeks include our walk out to Cape Kidnappers. I know what you are thinking what a cool name. Well it appears that when Captain Cook was heading down the ea http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Wellington-Region/blog-372437.html Hey everyone its Jinx here to update you with what we have been doing. So below I have copied my diary and pasted it in. Now i have made it a little more readable for you all and added a little more detail in for you all so here goes.Day 6 Saturday 7th FebWe got up and was out of the hostel for 10am and went to the information centre to get some more post cards we then drove to Taupo about 2 http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Wellington-Region/blog-372256.html Spending Christmas and New Years in the southern hemisphere is pretty fun. Hot summer days spent lounging on the beach with the sun setting around 9pm makes a pretty good atmostphere for holiday festivites. I spent my christmas at Lake Taupo in Rainbow Lodge. This funky hostel put on a three day party filled with activites food and booze. We had a giant christmas feast followed with delicious http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Wellington-Region/Wellington/blog-371089.html January 27th 20090130We arose around five one day Irsquom going to murder the bugler to catch the Overlander the scenic train journey that takes twelve beautiful hours to travel from Auckland to Wellington. We chugged along 680kms crossing 352 bridges and ducking 19 tunnels. The hills are very rippled and some are snowcapped and the valleys and gorges have been deepened by the drought a http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Wellington-Region/blog-370486.html After a consideration of the alternatives we bought an Inter City bus pass for the North Island and headed to Waitomo. It was a very different experience to the Greyhound services in Australia and it was like being looked after by a long lost Uncle with a full explanation of the rules of the vehicle and a fascinating description of how to use a service station.Whilst I am sure there are those w http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Wellington-Region/blog-369234.html We left Taupo and headed west towards New Plymouth as being centrally located we had the choice of either coast but the views of Mt Egmont swayed out decision. We took the scenic route down through Whanganui national park where the lush green scenery was beautiful before arriving at Stratford and headed to New Plymouth on the coast.The road around the west coast of the north island goes round http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Wellington-Region/Wellington/blog-363532.html Hi Everybody we went into the City and did all our travelling by car we went along oriental parade and right around as far as we could go we saw the south Island in the distance.Since we had a late start it was already lunchtime so we got bits and pieces and drove up mount Victoria we had the windiest picnic ever at the top we had old fashioned lemonade crusty french bread with ham and cheese an http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Wellington-Region/Wellington/blog-362678.html We drove into Wellington but ended up in Eastbourne lucky really because we forgot the camera so because we had to turn around we ended up back at the camp ground for the camera and toilet stops of course. So we drove into Wellington again and this time ended up there We got all day parking for 3.We walked to the Beehive just in time for a tour which lasted 1 hour we were the only kiwison th http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Wellington-Region/Wellington/blog-362304.html Hi everyone our day at Te Papa Train RideWe went in to Wellington by train we had a great day. I liked it in the Earthquake house because it told you all about it and it was actually real and it rocked you around and you got to see it. We went on the train to Te Papa we did lots of walking and there were these buttons and this man on the other side and you had to push the button and wait for th http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Wellington-Region/Wellington/blog-362282.html January 2009Friday 2ndI left Clive Lizersquos at 7am not realizing itrsquos a public holiday and the busses only run from 0830. I phoned a taxi and was at the train station in a flash Public transport rocksI took the train and various other modes of transportation including my feet to El Ranch Waikanae Christian Holiday Park. I checked into my flat aptly named The Ritz unpacked an http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Wellington-Region/Paraparaumu/blog-362263.html Greetings a short and sweet blog this timeFrom Picton we jumped on the Interislander ferry and naturally Dan fell asleep while I manically tried to plan a speedy route to take us around the North Island Nothing like forward planning ey 1am and we docked in Wellington and with bleary eyes tried to find a campsite.......A bit of a shock to find ourselves on a motorway AND driving in th http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Wellington-Region/blog-361570.html Happy New Year to all We celebrated the beginning of 2009 a full 18 hours earlier than those of you on the east coast of the U.S. As we stood in the fairly warm summer night watching fireworks over Caroline Bay in the biggest crowd I have seen since arriving in New Zealand it felt more like the Fourth of July than New Yearrsquos Eve I would like to share a funny story with you that high http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Wellington-Region/blog-359578.html