After a long drive from Hawke's Bay, we have reached our next destination- the capital of New Zealand. Vogue dubbed Wellington as a "locavore's dream'" so be prepared to explore the culinary capital through its restaurants, cafes and craft beer bars.
From the passenger window, I watched the streets with several tourists walking around, seemingly hunting for a perfect place to dine that evening. A few flashbacks came back to me of our time spent here backpacking in 2007.
I recalled the scent of strong coffee wafting through the streets that I personally nicknamed Wellington as Starbucks City.I could just imagine myself wandering for hours here fueled by caffeine. It wasn't much of a surprise when I later read that Wellington is a part of CNN's list of the World's 8 Best Coffee Cities.
A 'happy hour' memory popped up that I tried to shake off. It was an evening when I had far too many pints of beer at a local bar with Yohann and how that night went as we giddily walked back to our hostel housed in a striped zebra building.
I was jolted back into the present when we pulled up in front of our hotel with blinking hazard lights. It was difficult finding a parking space. We unloaded our luggage to check in while Yohann drove the car to a nearby car park. Comfort Hotel Wellington was one of the hotels that we have booked that we were happy staying at. The staff was nice and the rooms were modern, clean and it definitely lived up to its name - comfortable plus the location was great.
As we were traveling on a budget and have already maximized our expenses for the day after a glorious lunch at the Tui brewery tour and beer tasting, we have all agreed that dinner for tonight would be a picnic at a nearby park with leftover salad and tuna sandwiches. We wandered many blocks searching for a good spot until we reached an open space along Wellington Harbour. It was unusually cold and windy for a summer evening. We all shivered eating as fast as we could huddled under a rock sculpture. Our family brisk walked back to the hotel and called it a night.
Day 10
The sumptuous buffet breakfast at the hotel energized everyone and my merry self was buzzing from the bottomless freshly brewed coffee they were serving that morning.
Putting on comfortable walking shoes is key. We walked towards the harbour and visited Te Papa Museum. My daughter had a great time there at the children's activity area while my in-laws browsed around learning more about New Zealand's history and culture.
We were pleased to be under the sun an hour later as we made our way towards the Queens Wharf. We watched two teenage boys repeatedly jumping off a diving platform into the freezing cold sea. Brrr... I shook my head with disbelief and mentally patted the boys on the back for their bravery.
The stretch of restaurants and cafes along the quay offered tempting brunches al fresco. We strolled all the way towards the tip of the wharf and turned left. We had to remind ourselves to look right before crossing pedestrian lanes.
We all agreed to walk all the way up to Wellington Botanic Garden from the waterfront. We have completely forgotten about Wellington Cable Car which we highly recommend if you want to avoid burning your calves, huffing and puffing, in order to climb the sloped streets.
We spent most of the afternoon in the park. We watched the cable car while enjoying the panoramic views from up there. Mt. Victoria offers a stunning 360 degree views but we were pretty much contented watching Anaïs happily run around in the playground. Once we were feeling slightly hungry from our self guided stroll throughout the city, we left the garden towards Bowen Street where we had a glimpse of the Parliament Building. We had burgers at a fast food joint and found a money exchange center with good rates.
My in-laws decided to stay in the hotel for the evening and babysit our daughter so Yohann and I could go out on a dinner date at a highly recommended authentic Indian restaurant a few blocks away from the hotel. It's a cuisine that we have been craving for a long time and is difficult to find in the Philippines. Wellington is a melting pot of different cultures and being the culinary capital, the Indian Restaurant we went to was superb!
Day 10 ended wonderfully and we all had a restful sleep before our early Interislander Ferry Crossing the next morning.
Day 11 To be continued...
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