The Land Of The Long White Cloud
missymodee has been insisting since I first posted about my holiday that New Zealand is the most fabulous place on earth, and I am happy to report that she might well be right.
Our introduction to the country was rather traumatic. I had a bit of a panic attack getting on the plane in Sydney. The cabin crew were immensely supportive but insisted I puffed away on the oxygen while we took off. This made me rather lightheaded and I put the ensuing queasiness down to that, not realising how dehydrated I was. Also, the reason our flight - along with all the other flights where the aircraft were coming into Australia from New Zealand - was delayed was because of the terrible weather and gales in this country just before we arrived. Wellington is notoriously windy anyway and when the landing took two very bumpy attempts, it didn't do a lot for my nerves! Fortunately we will be flying out of Auckland so with any luck it will be a little smoother.
We didn't arrive at the hotel until about 2am, so we didn't get to see much of the city. In contrast with every other capital city I have ever visited, Wellington operates very much on a nine to five (or at least, nine to evening) basis, so everything was in darkness. I slept incredibly badly, by now having realised that I was dehydrated and drinking about four bottles of mineral water. When I got up I discovered rather a nasty heat rash all over my arms. We had been really careful in Australia but obviously not careful enough as despite the application of waterproof sun block, this had obviously happened in the half hour I spent swimming at Manly. Realising why I was feeling so ill, however, had the perverse effect of making me feel a lot better, so we continued with our plans, had breakfast and headed to the ferry terminal.
Some old university friends of mine, Liz and Lee (WANOLJ) emigrated to Blenheim on the South Island about eighteen months ago, so we took the opportunity to visit them. The journey across the Cook Straights and through Malborough Sound had some of the most breathtaking scenery I have ever seen, and what I could not believe was how sparsely populated it seemed to be. At the risk of sounding cheesy, it really was an unspoiled paradise. We both took loads of photos which will be uploaded when we get back.
Liz and Lee picked us up from Picton and whisked us off for a whistlestop tour of the Marlborough wine growing region, and lunch and wine tasting at one of the vineyards. We also called in at a small chocolate factory(!) before heading back to their house and chilling out for a while. In the evening we visited a couple of beautiful deserted beaches and had a bit of a drive around, then Lee cooked us dinner and we went to bed. Liz dropped us off at the airport this morning and we caught the most tolerable flight of the hole holiday - a twenty minute trip across the Sound in a little 18-seater thing back to Wellington. We have spent the day exploring this very attractive, quiet city, with a trip to the excellent Te Papa National Museum, and up to the Botanic Gardens via the cable car (actually a fernicular (sp?) railway). We found the observatory and went to a very interesting talk in the Planetarium. I now know what stars are visible in the southern skies that can't be seen in the northern hemisphere! We ended the day with a meal in New Zealand's first Balti House!
Tomorrow we're going up to Auckland on the Trans Senic Railway, and we're hoping to visit either Rotarua or the Waitomo Caves on Saturday before heading to Waiheke Island for the last few days of our holiday. This will probably be the last update till we get home, unless there's net access at Auckland Airport. This has been the most fantastic experience of my life and sharing it with eddie777 has made it even better. I will definitely be back to New Zealand before long, probably before returning to Australia, in fact, as this country is a lot more child-friendly!
Signing off from Wellington, anyway. Think of me on the dreaded flight home.
Our introduction to the country was rather traumatic. I had a bit of a panic attack getting on the plane in Sydney. The cabin crew were immensely supportive but insisted I puffed away on the oxygen while we took off. This made me rather lightheaded and I put the ensuing queasiness down to that, not realising how dehydrated I was. Also, the reason our flight - along with all the other flights where the aircraft were coming into Australia from New Zealand - was delayed was because of the terrible weather and gales in this country just before we arrived. Wellington is notoriously windy anyway and when the landing took two very bumpy attempts, it didn't do a lot for my nerves! Fortunately we will be flying out of Auckland so with any luck it will be a little smoother.
We didn't arrive at the hotel until about 2am, so we didn't get to see much of the city. In contrast with every other capital city I have ever visited, Wellington operates very much on a nine to five (or at least, nine to evening) basis, so everything was in darkness. I slept incredibly badly, by now having realised that I was dehydrated and drinking about four bottles of mineral water. When I got up I discovered rather a nasty heat rash all over my arms. We had been really careful in Australia but obviously not careful enough as despite the application of waterproof sun block, this had obviously happened in the half hour I spent swimming at Manly. Realising why I was feeling so ill, however, had the perverse effect of making me feel a lot better, so we continued with our plans, had breakfast and headed to the ferry terminal.
Some old university friends of mine, Liz and Lee (WANOLJ) emigrated to Blenheim on the South Island about eighteen months ago, so we took the opportunity to visit them. The journey across the Cook Straights and through Malborough Sound had some of the most breathtaking scenery I have ever seen, and what I could not believe was how sparsely populated it seemed to be. At the risk of sounding cheesy, it really was an unspoiled paradise. We both took loads of photos which will be uploaded when we get back.
Liz and Lee picked us up from Picton and whisked us off for a whistlestop tour of the Marlborough wine growing region, and lunch and wine tasting at one of the vineyards. We also called in at a small chocolate factory(!) before heading back to their house and chilling out for a while. In the evening we visited a couple of beautiful deserted beaches and had a bit of a drive around, then Lee cooked us dinner and we went to bed. Liz dropped us off at the airport this morning and we caught the most tolerable flight of the hole holiday - a twenty minute trip across the Sound in a little 18-seater thing back to Wellington. We have spent the day exploring this very attractive, quiet city, with a trip to the excellent Te Papa National Museum, and up to the Botanic Gardens via the cable car (actually a fernicular (sp?) railway). We found the observatory and went to a very interesting talk in the Planetarium. I now know what stars are visible in the southern skies that can't be seen in the northern hemisphere! We ended the day with a meal in New Zealand's first Balti House!
Tomorrow we're going up to Auckland on the Trans Senic Railway, and we're hoping to visit either Rotarua or the Waitomo Caves on Saturday before heading to Waiheke Island for the last few days of our holiday. This will probably be the last update till we get home, unless there's net access at Auckland Airport. This has been the most fantastic experience of my life and sharing it with eddie777 has made it even better. I will definitely be back to New Zealand before long, probably before returning to Australia, in fact, as this country is a lot more child-friendly!
Signing off from Wellington, anyway. Think of me on the dreaded flight home.