Wellington

For my birthday this year I decided to fly to the capital Wellington, and then hire a car and drive back to Auckland. I managed to get a great deal on the car and paid just $9 a day for a Nissan Wingroad. The  car had very little power (1500cc in an estate car) and the outside of the car was in pretty poor condition (lots of bumps and scrapes), but the inside was immaculate, and it didn't break down which was the main thing!

I flew to Wellington early on Thursday morning (7am) and caught the airport bus into the city. It was a very posh bus - it had leather seats! I dropped my bag off at the hotel and then headed down to the quay for a look around. Wellington is great because you can walk everywhere. Auckland requires some form of public transport to get from one end to the other, or even into the city. Wellington is compact and easy to navigate, which was good as I wasn't picking the car up until the following day. The weather was glorious and the quay was bustling with commuters. There were even some people jumping off the jetty and having a swim. I was just looking for somewhere to stop for breakfast!

After walking the length of the quay I found a small cafe where I decided to have breakfast. I had a huge plate of french toast with bacon, maple syrup and banana, all washed down with a cup of tea. I then headed back to the hotel to shower and change into some shorts and a t-shirt as it was getting rather warm in my jeans.

The hotel itself was very grand, decorated in a Georgian style. It had a huge spiral staircase and even a piano in the foyer area. My room was also very grand, with high ceilings and a king-sized bed. I was a little disappointed I was only staying for one night!

After changing I walked to the cable car and travelled up to the Botanical Gardens. The cable car travels only a very short distance, but goes up the hill, so there are quite a few people that travel on it.

The gardens were spectacular. Very well looked after, and plenty to see. I obviously didn't have enough time to see everything so went to the main viewpoints, the herb garden, the tropical glasshouses, and the rose garden. The herb garden was brilliant, not only did it have herbs for cooking, but also medicinal herbs and how the Maori people would have used them for healing. The glasshouses were also nice, and had a pond with some fish and lilies. The rose garden was the main focus of the attraction, with a fountain in the middle, and lots of benches around the outside.

Once I had finished at the Botanical Garden I went back to the quay to get something to eat. I found a gourmet pizza bar and sat outside in the afternoon sun with my half and half shawshank (braised lamb, caramelised onion, roasted pumpkin and rosemary) and BLAT (streaky bacon, avocado, tomato, lettuce and aioli dressing) pizza. It was AMAZING!! Definitely somewhere I will have to visit again.

I then returned to the hotel and readied myself for my trip to Zealandia. It is an eco-sanctuary in the middle of Wellington designed to restore the native forest and animal species to the area. I had booked on a night tour as I knew I would already have plenty to do during the day, and wanted some entertainment for the evening. The night tour is designed so that visitors can see the nocturnal animals, and hear some of the bird calls.

When I arrived it was dusk, and unfortunately I couldn't get good pictures of the wildlife. I got a couple of the river running through Zealandia, one of a couple of pied shags sitting on a branch, and one of the rear of a takahe. 

On the night tour I also saw several tuatara (reptiles), lots of kaka (birds) and a total of 3 kiwis. There were also plenty of gloworms lining the route, which made it look a pretty magical place at night. Since I couldn't get any good photographs, I stole some off the Zealandia website, so you can see what I saw.

That's about all for Wellington I think. The following morning I went back to the airport and picked up the rental car to continue my journey north. Part II to follow.....

Wat Chalong and The Big Buddha - Thailand Part III

As part of my Thai cultural experience I took a trip to the most important Buddhist temple in Phuket, Wat Chalong. It was a short ride from the hotel, and despite the awful weather, I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.  There were a few people praying, but the majority of visitors were tourists. Women were asked to cover their knees and shoulders with sarongs that you could borrow at the entrance, and we all had to remove our shoes. The temple and the surrounding buildings were beautiful; very colourful and with intricate carvings and statues in each. 

After a quick look around Wat Chalong, I carried on to another tourist attraction known as 'The Big Buddha'. It is a HUGE statue of Buddha (about 40m high) located on a hill between Chalong and Kata. From the statue, there are amazing views of the Andaman Sea and the surrounding area. The construction and materials was funded entirely by donations, and the project is ongoing. 

At the base of the statue there were other smaller golden Buddha statues. I'm not sure why there were so many or what they all meant, but there were some that had been designated to days of the week. I had a look for 'Tuesday's Buddha', as I was born on a Tuesday. It took me a few minutes to find it, but once I'd seen it I should have guessed which one it was. It was the only Buddha statue relaxing and lying down - very fitting I thought! 

After visiting the statue, I went back down the hill to the main temple. When I entered I noticed there was a monk sitting on a bench. He beckoned me over, and although he didn't speak English he gestured for me to kneel in front of him and bow my head. He then blessed me by flicking some sacred water on the top of my head and saying a prayer in Thai. Once he had finished, he took my wrist and placed a bracelet on my hand. It was made of cotton, and very brightly coloured, a bit like a friendship bracelet - I still wear it even now! After I had been given mine, everyone else started queueing up behind me so that they could be blessed and given a bracelet too. Although I couldn't get a photo of the actual moment, I got a photo of the monk giving a bracelet to another tourist afterwards. I'm not sure how long he was there for after I left. Quite a while I would imagine going on the queue I saw when I stood up!

That's about it for part III. Look out for Thailand part IV, coming to a blog near you soon!