Day 8 > 10 NZ - 8-10/1/2011

We’ve spent a few days with Rob, Kerri, Trene and Bec so I haven’t had much of a chance to keep the blog up-to-date so here is a bit of a whirlwind through what we’ve been doing with the other Lakes.

Saturday 8/1

·         Time spent at the beach

·         Quad bike ride along the beach

·         Spa after the beach

·         Final lunch and clean up

·         Travel from Waitarere Beach to Wellington (the long way) which included

·         Manawatu Gorge - beautiful

·         Ekatahuna - to visit Walle’s “parent’s”

·         Masterton – for a 6pm snack

·         Crossing the Rimutaka pass – amazing and very windy road

·         Checking out the view of Wellington from Wainuiomata

·         Finally arriving home in Johnsonville for a 9pm Fush ‘n’ Chups dinner in front of the movie ‘Evan Almighty’.

Whew! We did heaps but is was a great day and we saw and experienced heaps.

Sunday 9/1

Rob had a little list of things we were going to see so here’s the next whirlwind drive around Wellington

·         Visit to the NZ Parliament building known as the ‘bee hive’

·         A trip up the cable car to the W Botanic Garden and a quick look at the CC Museum

·         Up the mountain to have a look at the wind turbine – I should say at this point that the weather was overcast and quite cold and the wind was blowing a gale. In fact we had to do some washing and before we left and we used heavy duty pegs to keep them on the line. When we returned later that night, the pegs had done their job and no washing had left the line, but the pegs had put holes in a few of our clothes in the process of hanging on. So suffice to say, the turbine was turning quite well.

·         Along the coast to Island Bay (SE of Wellington) for a look, toilet stop and then some lunch at a nice little café

·         A quick visit into Kathmandu to take advantage of the sale and to compliment our wardrobe with some warmer clothes

·         Around ‘under’ the airport to look at the waves crashing

·         Up to the Massey Memorial to check out the view

·         Up to Mt Victoria to again check out the view

·         A coffee break at Oriental Bay

·         Back to Johnsonville to fold the washing, some dinner, meeting the neighbors during dessert, a little trip planning, packing up ready for our early getaway

·         And finally sleep at about 11pm

Whew! But again we did and experienced heaps.

Monday 10/1

I woke at 6am to an absolutely beautiful day with, wait for it, NO WIND and no clouds. A perfect day for the ferry ride. We had to leave at 7.20am to pick up the camper in Lower Hutt and get to the Ferry terminal by 9.30 for a 10.30 Ferry to the South Island. We felt a bit rushed but the timing was all OK as it turned out.

We had a fantastic 3 ½ days with the Lakes. It was fun, relaxing, tiring, easy and got to see lots of the Wellington area in the process. THANKS HEAPS Rob, Kerri, Trene, Bec and Walle for your hospitality, company, and tour guiding. Much appreciated! Thanks in particular for the use of your credit card to help pay for the hire of the camper when our pre-arranged bank transfers didn’t happen and we found ourselves short – whoops! We’ll pay you back – promise.

The ferry left bang on time and Mandy and I quickly found a spot that we stayed in for the rest of the 3.5 hour ride. The beautiful day created smooth seas, clear skies, and lots of photo opportunities along the way. We even saw a seal swimming by. A wonderful journey.

We arrived safely in Picton and made our way to Nelson to the well oiled machine that is the Tahuanui Beach Holiday Park. We booked in, parked and got a bit acclimatized to the camper, then drove off to go shopping and get some dinner. After culling the photo’s, sorting out the bank transfers, having dinner, washing up, and trying to make some decisions about our itinerary for Tuesday we climbed into bed and fell soundly asleep.