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!
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.
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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.....
