Windy Wellington - I take it all back

Hello dear ones,

I'm back again. This post is about the last two days in Wellington, which were just amazing. On the one hand, the sun was shining and on the other hand, the city is so diverse. But let me start from the beginning.

Yesterday morning (03/16/17) we slept in until 8 o'clock and then had a relaxed breakfast. I also had a short phone call with Max :) After that, we took the bus to the city, or rather to the cable car station at the Botanical Garden. Our hike started there. We walked through the Botanical Garden into the city, a very beautiful walk. Next, we wanted to go through the historic district of Thornton, but it didn't work out as planned, we somehow just walked around on the highway :D

Then we walked to the Parliament and the Bee Hive and took a break there. I used the time to insure my car. It's not mandatory here, but I preferred to have it insured. Apparently, the typical German need for security comes into play. Anyway, I'm insured now. 

Afterwards, we continued through the city towards the museum. To our delight, we could walk along the harbor there. By now, we had spent so much time in the sun that I started to worry about getting a sunstroke, so I quickly bought a sun hat and Mama bought a fancy new necklace. We really liked the hustle and bustle at Queens Wharf: food trucks, small shops in containers, restaurants, people cooling off by jumping into the cool harbor water, and occasionally a jogger showing off. 

Around lunchtime, we went to the natural history museum where we visited the Maori exhibition. It's a really worth seeing exhibition, in our opinion. 

Afterwards, we walked back the same way and by chance saw two stingrays hanging around on the rocks in the harbor area. Really cool.

Then we went to the Civic Center via the City to Sea Bridge. This bridge is really cool and invites you to linger. At the Civic Center, we could see the library. On the way back to the sea, we went through Cuba Street, a pedestrian zone with great shops and restaurants. When we arrived at the harbor, we sat down in front of The Crab Shack and watched people passing by while enjoying a beer. It was so much fun that we decided to have dinner there as well. My burger was very tasty, but Mama's fish was a bit strange. 

After this meal, we took the cable car back up to the Botanical Garden. Unfortunately, our bus had already left too early, so we had to wait another 30 minutes for the next one. But it was so delayed that we decided to walk the 2 km instead before it got completely dark and no more buses would be running. But we had thought wrong, as soon as we were out of reach of the bus stop, our bus unfortunately left without us. So the adventurous way back to the accommodation began. First, we went through the Botanical Garden, which was already quite dark, and in the middle of it, Google Maps got confused and didn't know where to go anymore. When we finally got out of the garden, it was all uphill from there. According to my fitness watch, 40 flights of stairs over a kilometer. We were gasping for air like dogs when we finally arrived at our accommodation and fell into bed after a quick shower and slept. 

At breakfast this morning, clouds suddenly appeared and took over Wellington completely. Very unfortunate, as we actually wanted to go to Mt. Victoria to enjoy the great view of the city. With slightly dampened spirits, we got ready and looked for an alternative program. When we stepped outside, we could hardly believe our eyes, once again bright sunshine despite the bad weather forecast. So we quickly drove up the mountain and were rewarded with a beautiful view of Wellington. After that, we went to Owhirc Bay for a walk along the beach to a seal colony. After walking through the sand and over the rocks for an hour and a half, we still hadn't found any seals. They are probably just a little too early, as they usually stay in this bay in winter to prepare for the exhausting mating season in spring. On the way back, I found a super cool shell with something growing on it and some beautiful stones. Mama dipped her feet in the Pacific and after three hours, we were back at Sandy in the parking lot. 

After this exhausting walk, during which it got so windy that people were blown off their bikes, we decided not to walk anymore but to take the Harbour Drive instead. This takes you past all the bays in Wellington. It's really worth the drive with constantly new great views of the ocean. Some bays were for surfing, some allowed dogs to play, and some looked as if no human had ever been there. 

When we arrived back in the city center, we went to Courtenay Place, a street with only restaurants, pubs, bars, and a few strip clubs. Since today is St. Patrick's Day, there was a lot going on everywhere and a very lively atmosphere. We got a great table outside from which we could observe all the hustle and bustle and enjoy delicious Italian food.

Afterwards, we strolled through the city for a while and are now back at the accommodation, where we are looking at the great photos and preparing for our adventure tomorrow.

Wishing you all a nice day.

See you soon,

Jessi