Welcome to winter in Wellington...

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Landed in Sydney (again) from the Cook Islands feeling better than I probably should have given the amount I had drunk before I got on my flight to Christchurch and then having to get on another flight to Sydney at some ungodly hour of 6am, after barely managing even three hours sleep on the plane... Spent my time in Sydney shopping for birthday presents (hope you like them sister!), exploring Paddington market and the Rocks market, went for a couple of runs and tried to avoid the June showers that had arrived with a vengeance. Oh and how could I forget the fact that my Friday night (the day that I landed from the Cook Islands) was spent at Wallaby Bar in Darling Harbour watching the Super 14 final. Was a good atmosphere due to the presence of the Waratahs in the final, who are the Sydney based Super 14 team, and despite a good performance in the first half the Crusaders were just too good and won.

Anyhow, I digress - as despite what some people might think this trip isn’t just about rugby! So Tuesday morning arrived and it was time to leave Australia and head for New Zealand. After being told by the woman at Qantas check-in that I was not allowed to do any shopping whilst away as my bag was on the limit of accepted weight for the flight, cheeky - as if I ever shop?!? I was super excited about heading to Wellington, but not about the cold weather that would no doubt greet me on arrival. Hum, might have slightly underestimated the coldness, but will get back to that later! Coming into land at Wellington, we flew over the north of the South Island (confused?!) and the views out of the window were stunning - especially the Marlborough Sands. So... It was very, very, very cold when I land; just 11 degrees and a wind chill factor that made me think that my tan was going to freeze off in about 20 seconds. Checked into the Wellington YHA (very helpful people who sorted out a ‘plan of action’ for me for the next few days) and then headed off to Freyberg Pool for a swimming session. Stopped off at New World supermarket, probably the NZ equivalent of Woolworths!, for some supplies and then it was an early night due to the 5am start in Sydney and also because I had to be up and ready fairly early on Wednesday too.

Wednesday morning was spent on Seal Coast Safari and finally got to Sinclair Head to see the seals after a detour through some farmland and past a wind turbine... The seals were cute, in a kind of fat brown blubber way, and there were loads of them spread out over the rocks and flashing their prowess (by puffing out their chests - typical men!). Had a much needed coffee and muffin sat in the truck whilst looking at the seals - as was totally frozen. Our guide had to build the road, by laying down big stones on the beach track, so that we could drive through Devils Gate and then spent many a happy minute gazing out at the huge swell in the sea. Past red rocks on the way back into the city and also several ‘Bachs’ along the beach (Bachelor Huts apparently, but they looked more like beach huts to me). The rest of the day was spent wandering around Wellington getting my bearings and also purchased a windproof and waterproof jacket which will no doubt prove to be the purchase of the trip so far if the weather so far in NZ is anything to go by. Was a little bit distressed to find out that no cinemas seemed to be showing SATC though, until I realised that it still hadn’t been released in NZ yet...!

Thankfully the crazy winds of Wednesday had died down on Thursday - perfect timing as was up and off on the Interislander ferry across to Picton (in the South Island). The ferry route didn’t seem to be the most direct way to get to the South Island, but was probably in the main part due to the fact that it takes almost 30 mins to sail out of Wellington Harbour... Once the ferry got into the Marlborough Sands though the scenery was stunning and just as beautiful as it appeared from the plane when I was coming into land at Wellington - just a shame about the coldness you felt standing outside on deck. Had a quick lunch of soup in Picton and then headed off to my ‘Marlborough Wine Tour’. Met the tour guide, Tony - a Scottish man with a very strong accent despite having moved to NZ in the 1960s - and we drove off to Blenheim to pick up another couple of people for the tour. The drive there was through beautiful landscape that reminded me of British Columbia and the views en route to Whistler from Vancouver...

Had a fab time in the Marlborough wine region visiting different wineries (apparently that’s the right name, but to me it doesn’t sound quite right...!). The Marlborough wine region is world famous for its Sauvignon Blanc and so had to sample ‘a bit’ of that... There are loads and loads of vines covering the landscape in the region and we were told that the price of acre of land here has increased from $100 about 20 years ago to over $100k now! The wineries that were visited on the tour were: (i) Wither Hills, where there was a very nice Pinot Gris that you can only get at Waitrose in the UK; (ii) Cloudy Bay, which is owned by LVMH and where I fell in love with a delicious oaked sauvignon blanc called ‘To Koro’ which is only available in the UK from Harvey Nics - guess where I’m going to head when I get back! They also had a very yummy ‘Late Riesling’ that was made from mouldy grapes?!?; (iii) Hunters, where they had nice wines but the building wasn’t as ‘glam’ as Wither Hills or Cloudy Bay and felt a bit like something out of the 1980s with very shabby red patterned carpet - I’m probably being a bit judgemental but it was just a bit of a ‘interior design’ shock after the modern oak, metal and brushed concrete of previous places!; and then finally (iv) Drylands, although I’m not really totally sure of what the wineries name was but it’s part of the same company as Hardy's and is now owned by a US firm - anyhow they had a very nice ice wine (don’t ask me what it is - as by this time I wasn’t overly concentrating, if you know what I mean!) and also a lovely port. The horrible ferry back to Wellington was delayed by nearly two hours so didn’t end up back in the YHA until nearly midnight...

Friday was one of those days when you feel like you’re spending the whole day doing ‘chores’ and not much else! Although I did get up and head to Freyberg for a quick gym session - was so bizarre to exercise in what is effectively a glass box and have near perfect 360 degree views of the sea and coastline all around you. Then it was time to make friends with the laundry room for too many hours for my liking, then a quick shopping trip and back to the hostel in time for Aoife’s arrival (the Irish girl I met in Kakadu). Friday night was a little bit alcoholic and spent in the bar at the Base hostel - I am personally blaming the fact that they had pints of beer on 2 for 1 offer all night...

All Blacks vs Ireland at Westpac Stadium was the highlight of Saturday, of course! We braved the near 100km/h winds (I’m not joking!) to pick up our tickets from the stadium at lunchtime and then it was a case of killing time until kick-off at 7:35pm - so shopping, shopping and a bit more shopping it was! But was very good and didn’t by anything aside from a pair of thin (but warm) gloves. Found the kitchen in the hostel and cooked a late lunch before a brief rest and then off to the stadium it was! Thankfully we decided to get to the stadium in time to see the players warm-up as practically as soon as we sat in our seats, accompanied by two glasses of sparkling wine each, the heavens opened and Wellington experienced a horrible cold evening of wind and rain. The match was good fun and the banter with the All Blacks fans was amusing - especially as I confused them all given that I had two little Irish flag tattoos on my cheeks (just because!) but yet had an English accent... The end result, in my opinion, was slightly flattering to the All Blacks (it ended 21-11) as they really didn’t play that well. Walking back to the hostel from the stadium was a bit of a disaster - as we got totally soaked in the rain and ended up trying to dry ourselves (and our jeans) off in the room by aiming the hairdryer at us!

Sunday morning was gorgeous sunshine, but still freezing cold - I swear the weather in this country is a crazy at it is in England! We passed a couple of hours walking around the Te Papa museum and then walked to the cable car on Lambton Quay and headed up to the Botanical Gardens. Took the downhill route to the City (signposted with pink flowers painted on the pavement) and eventually ended up back at the Quayside - took a couple of hours though!!! Then it was time for Sex & the City (as it has finally be released over here) - and the cinema was full of girls, girls and more girls who all seemed as excited about watching the film as I was. It was amazing - I loved it so much, but seemed to cry in equal parts due to sadness and laughter. I want to go back to New York ASAP!!!

I succumbed to the ‘Lord of the Rings’ tour on Monday, but really wished that I hadn’t. It was a wasted day and didn’t really see much at all - so complained and got a refund on half the amount that I had paid. Did get to see some surfers at Lyle Bay though in huge waves and also the house that Orlando Bloom stayed in whilst filming the trilogy... Thought that I’d see a lot more stunning scenery than I did and felt like our guide spent the most time trying to get us to recreate images from the film - hum, I ‘don’t do’ fancy dress at the best of times so couldn’t really get enthused about wearing a pair of fake hobbit ears whilst trying to attack a tree! Oh well - I put this one down to experience...

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