a meal with my work colleagues the night before meant we’d not had much sleep by the time our alarms went off at 5am. we got to the airport just before 6 and had our breakfast in the business lounge. we didn’t have too much though as flights to wellington are notoriously bumpy
the flight was fine though and we were even able to check in to our accommodation early when we got there at 9.30am
it was a long thin place rather like being on a canal boat. but central to town and very nice.
wellington was very windy. not hugely cold, but most days required an overcoat
we had a quick walk round the waterfront and visited the info centre
and saw the royal navy band playing to celebrate the visit of hmsnz wellington to Wellington
we had lunch in an old bank then all had a lie down for a couple of hours to catch up on lost sleep. that turned out to be a good idea despite questions from the youngsters as we all woke up feeling fresh enough to walk up mount victoria
mt vic is 196 metres high so a bit of a trek
but there were things to do on the way, like this home made swing
but it wasn’t all play
but the view from the top was quite excellent
that’s the interislander ferry which takes you from/to the top of the south island to/from the wellington which is at the bottom of the north island
when i go to work in wellington my office is the right white roundish building on the front of the picture above (the one without Gen-i written on it)
airplanes dominate wellington and i was struck by how noisy that made the place. almost like being back under the heathrow flight path in the UK
where’s wally ?
wellington is very windy because of its geography. you can read why on this website which has some nice pictures
the top of the mount contains a carpark which is a little disappointing if you’ve walked up there as it doesn’t feel so exclusive
but well worth the trip
on the way down we did a geocache or two and wandered down oriental bay back to the town
darkness fell and that was the end of the first day
