Windy Wellington

Last week Tuesday, Dave and I drove down to Wellington to be the typical tourists again. We arrived at the hostel around midnight. Definitely not my favorite hostel we've stayed at. People were very loud and inconsiderate at that time of night. On Wednesday we woke up bright and early to a beautiful sunny, warm, non-windy day. Our first stop was the Beehive, called that because it kind of looks like a beehive, hence the name. And also because it's swarming with Parliament office workers. It is connected to the National Archives Library building beside it, and Parliament next to that. We went on a free tour of Parliament.

We then headed to the cable car. Our Lonely Planet book said it was a must-see attraction. It was completely overrated. Short ride. Hardly any views of the city. Silly prices.

The cable car dropped us off at the Botanical Gardens and gave us a great view of Wellington from up high. That was it's only plus.

In the rose garden.

I guess Dave is a little camera shy. :)

We stopped for some gelato (an Italian frozen yogurt ice cream, if that makes sense) after the gardens before heading to Mt. Victoria for another look at Wellington from a different perspective. The gelato was delicious! I had three flavors (raspberry cream, strawberry and chocolate chip) and Dave had two (vanilla bean and maple walnut).

Wellington Harbor.

Mt. Victoria is where they shot the scene in Lord of the Rings where Frodo says "Get off the road!" We weren't in the exact location, but in the right vicinity.

This is a picture of the tv screen with the movie playing of the actual scene from Lord of the Rings.

Next up was the Te Papa museum. It included a lot of Maori (natives to New Zealand) art.

"The Void".

That night there was a free BBQ of sausages at our hostel. Sausages here are like brats. There was also free wine at 7pm. I had 3 sausages while Dave had 7, I think. All I know is that he had a lot.

On Thursday we hopped in the card and drove out to the Putangirua Pinnacles and Cape Palliser.Along the coast we saw a wild seal hanging out on the beach.

Dave: "Hi seal."

Seal: "Grr!"

Tara: "Hi seal."

Seal: "Come pet me." (Of course I didn't though.)

Continuing to Cape Palliser Lighthouse...

...we saw even more seals.

Cape Palliser Lighthouse.

A cute little house along the coast.Don't worry, it's not dead. Just sleeping.

Some crazy town that had tons of bulldozers with large boat trailers behind them.

On to the Pinnacles.

A random goat running on the road.

The Pinnacles.

Another picture I took of the tv screen of the scene with the Pinnacles in Lord of the Rings.

Also from the tv with Lord of the Rings playing.

After the Pinnacles, we drove back into Wellington city. I dropped off Dave at Parliament. He wanted to sit in on some meeting and see if he could get a glimpse of Helen Clark. No such luck. I went shopping and found a cute yellow dress. I also stopped at the railway station.

I guess they like Harry Potter too.

We went out to eat that night at a place called Great India Restaurant. It was quite a unique experience. The waiter places napkins on both our laps. I'm not a huge fan of spicy foods and struggled through the whole meal, but it was still really yummy. Also, they put these one seeds in all the dishes that I don't like either. So it goes. Dave loved it though. He's all for the spicy food. At the end of the meal, they brought out a warm, damp, washcloth that smelled like mint, to wipe your hands and face with. It was all very fun.

We stayed one more night at the hostel and then drove back early Friday morning to get back in time for work that night.