Wellington

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Well i arrived in Wellington after catching the ferry from Picton and waved goodbye to the south island and said hello to the North island.

I checked into my hostel which was the YHA and was quite nice, but you can always pretty much guarantee YHA hostels are of a decent standard, alkthough sometimes lacking character. Well the only problem i had anyway was the fact that the room i was in smelt pretty bad, particualrly the smell of feet. Usually the smell only effects you when you walk into a room and then you get used to it. But you know the smell of a room is bad when you can smell it when you wake up. O well these are the dangers of travelling i suppose.

After doing nothing the first night the next day i decided to have a trot around town and take in the Te Papa museum. My first stop was the Te Papa museum which was pretty good and as its free it made it even better. The section of the museum that dealt with earthquakes and volcanoes i found particularly interesting and had plenty of activities to do in there like a house that shook like there was a earthquake going off.

Well after that i decided towalk around town and get a feel for the place, and i actually quite liked wellington it had a nice feel to it. It has the feel of a nice town but the facilities of a city. That night i decided to go the the embassy theatre, where the lord of the rings premier was held and it says on the seats in there who sat where and so i ended up sitting in Liv Tylers seat with Hugo Weavings seat next to me. I watched the curse of the golden flower, a chinese film which was ok, but it was strange to be sat in a huge cinema with about 10 people in there.

The next day i decided to go to the botanicle gardens, which you take the cable car to get to, although that was easier said than done as it took me about 30 minutes to find where i could catch it from. The view from the start of the Botanicle gardens at the top of the hill was really nice of the city and the bays around the area and then the walk down the hill through the botanicle gardens was really nice, it also helped being a very nice day. I sat down on one of the benches for an hour and just relaxed and watch the world go by and then headed into the city again. That night i went to the cinema again and watched sunshine which i enjoyed.

My activity for the next day was a lord of the rings tour........and it was really shit, i really wouldnt reccomend anyone to do it. Firstly it cost 80 dollars. I was actually looking forward to this as it took you to places where the film was shot, taking in the dead marshes, Isengaard, Rivendell, Helms deep and Minas Tirith. Well the first stop was the dead marshes and it was now a car park....hmm very interesting. Anyone want to get out and take pictures the guide says, "i think might miss the picture opportunity out i am afraid".
The next stop was Isengaard, which basically was just a random park, it was a nice park, but random all the same. So out he brought his lap top and showed us the scene from the film and him saying if you look closely you can see that tree there. Wow a tree from lord of the rings my dreams are fullfilled. Well basically the day carried on like this finishing off with a trip to the Quarry which was the set for Helms deep and minas tirith, i have to say it was the worst tour i have ever done.

Well after that dissapointment i did nothing but prepare myself for the next day where i would be travelling to Taupo.

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Photos

me on the ferry to wellington
farewell south island

apparently this tree was in the lord of the rings
Isengaard to be exact!