We like Wellington. Strangely Captain James Cook did not appear to be excited about it. In 1773 he anchored about a mile outside the harbour and went no further.
The harbour is amazing. Last time we were here it was a Sunday and there was a Dragon Boat
Championship taking place with scores of teams involved. Our visit this year was on a Monday and the Waterfront was less frenetic, but it was a beautiful day and the locals and the tourists were out in force enjoying the autumn sun.
We were dropped off in the heart of the City at Brandon Street and made our way along Customhouse Quay. There were too many boutiques and shoe shops for my liking. “We have not come all this way to look at dresses” fell on deaf ears.
We eventually arrived at the Waterfront and meandered along to the Te Papa Museum of NZ. Last time we were pushed for time and did not enjoy it, but this visit was great. The museum is vast and modern.
New Zealand is exceptionally wheelchair friendly. Nearly all the buses have ramps. The pavements are flat with dropped kerbs everywhere and there is access to all the shops (sadly!). And the New Zealanders are brilliant, asking if everything is OK and offering to help with directions as soon as you peer at a map.
Tomorrow we are in Napier, but sadly we will not meet up with Roger and Susan Treherne’s daughter, Clare, who we saw last time we were there. She is away visiting relatives. But we are due to meet Gretchen Watson’s mother, Maryjane, who is having a house built in the Hawkes Bay area close to Napier.