Wellington and Cook Strait

The city of Wellington is quite small (~150K) in European standards to be called the capital, but its strategic position right on the edge of the Cook Strait makes it a great place to conduct business out of. The city itself is quite nice, even though a bit windy at times. I'd say, it is almost like walking in miniature San Francisco without the fog. We decided to spend a good 4 days in the city, so were obviously looking for the cheapest accommodation available in the form of tent sites. The only one in the city for tents is the Rowena's Lodge, which has a small lawn where tents are set up in a very random chaos with no privacy. What would be considered 3 campsites at a regular motor camp, served quite well to accommodate at least 13 tents, so you can imagine the zipper pulling symphony during the morning and evening hours. However, don't let that fool you, Rowena's is actually quite nicely situated close to the center, with an OK parking lot and reasonably priced, so a little bit of invasion of privacy is a very small price to pay for this place.

There is a great museum of New Zealand in Wellington called TePapa which is actually free of charge, except a few exhibitions inside which you of course have a choice not to attend. There you will learn about New Zealand's beginnings, its tough times, stories of immigration over the years, animals including the 4 types of kiwis and the extinct giant moa bird. You can even experience a real-like earthquake in one of the exhibits which is really not that exciting, but a good attraction.

As in SF there is a cable car. However, this one is not really on a regular street, it is more similar to the one in Prague to the Petrin tower. It leads to a beautiful botanical garden with great views of Wellington. There is a luscious rose garden and many other areas with New Zealand's plant life. On the way from the garden you will more than likely pass around the parliament buildings and the Beehive, which is an architectural splendor of Wellington. After the walking, I couldn't resist and had to go swimming in one of the outdoor pools near the Beehive (the only outdoor pool in Wellington that I was able to find).

There is also a pretty tasty Maori owned restaurant in the area of the town right by Rowena's. It is called "Kai in the city". Maori live music makes sure during the evening that everyone is involved and each guest even learns a bit of Maori when they are involved in singing a song. The meals are not too big, so make sure you are not starving when you go there, but they are very delicious.

The last day in Wellington, we hopped on a ferry over the Cook Strait which was quite comfortable as the weather was wonderful and it took about 3 and a half hours. The scenery of the South island's Marlborough Sounds when the ferry was coming in was just spectacular. After arrival we decided to head to the least rainy spot in New Zealand, Nelson.