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Welcome back fellow steemians. Picking up from "the nicest town" in New Zealand. My next and final destination of the North Island was the capital itself.
Wellington
Wellington really does stand out in my memory, and if you continue reading, I'm certain I can convince you why.
It was a beautiful day travelling down there from feilding. The main road was closed and we had to take a detour which was annoying at first, but what a detour it was.
The views of the countryside and smoothness of the road were very welcome and it staggered me that the locals drive down this road and have no idea how lucky they are compared to my boring route to work, for example.
After an hour or so I arrived and saw one of the moast awesome coastal cities I've ever seen. It was like driving into a different country with a completely different climate. The weather was not only sunny, with blue skies, but much hotter. The view of the water front whilst driving down the freeway was just so relaxing. It didn't feel real, I had no idea this is what wellington was like. The water was an electric blue with a hint of turquoise and you could see the beach across the bay.
(I didn't know there was a beach here either)
🤦🏻♂️
Our first destination was the airport, to return the rental car. I got a glimpse of the inner city as we made our way through the busy rush hour traffic. This kind of ruined what I'd just experienced a few minutes ago of flying down the roads with beautiful views. Oh well, it's a popular place.
We had to get an uber back to the hostel but for some reason, the uber driver took us the longest route...
Was he just ripping us off? Trying to get the most money or was he simply showing us the most scenic route and possibly avoiding traffic in the center of town? Now I look back, probably both.
Lodge In The City
The first hostel we stayed at was a bit of a dump. I hate to say it but the communal area was more like a Docters waiting room. In fact, I bet that's exactly what it used to be. There were even magazines on the tables and yes, the carpet was grey. The room? Haha the room! It was a double room but was a kind of bunk bed...double on bottom and single on top. There were pipes coming out of the walls. It looked as if we were staying in, what used to be a bathroom of some kind 😂.
All this being said, it wasn't a bad place really. The staff were very helpful and the location was spot on! Oh, it was also the cheapest option at the time too. The major downside was the wifi. It was very limited daily which meant planning where to go, what to do and booking anything in advance prooved difficult.
A Lord Of The Rings Scene
If you've seen the 'Lord of the rings' films you may recognise this next location. It was about 10 minutes walk from the hostel and located near some mointain bike trails. Suddenly I realised the path I was walking on looked awfully familiar..
It's the scene where the hobbits, Froddo and his brothers are being hunted down. Frodo says "Get off the road!" And they all clamber down and hide between the routes in a small outcove. If you look closely, there is someone holding a picture of the actual scene. We tried to mimic the picture, I'll let you judge..
The thing is, I probably wouldn't of found it if I hadn't bumped into a tour group. They kindly invited me to join for a picture with them and in return I took their photo.
I owe those guys my gratitude for letting me join them. It's such a good feeling when you meet these kind of people. Later on I found out that thise tours cost anything from 30 to 100 dollars or more!
Mount Victoria Viewpoint
I'm so glad I found out that this trail I'd already been walking on It was part of Mount Victoria. Having the word "mount" in the name made me feel a bit better considering my fitness. It was frustratingly long so I decided to take shortcuts whenever I found them despite the extra effort of the climb.
When I reached the top, there was a road leading to what looked like some strange pyramid which of course I had to climb. This lead to the viewpoint. It was so depressing to see all the cars there.
The view was worth it with though, with the main city on one side and small mountains on the other, my first proper view of the surrounding area.
The pictures don't do this place justice, it was so quiet and calm up there. A great place to rest before heading back.
On the way back down, I spotted a bench I'd somehow missed before, it was near the Lord Of The Rings location I'd visited earlier and had writing inscribed it.
This, however was sort of true for me too. I had never been this far away from home (London -UK) and it took me a few moments to realise just how far I'd come and how much I'd achieved since I'd been away. Not to mention, the close calls. Being seconds or inches away from death. (Brown snakes and funnelwebs) Honestly had my luck been different with those instances I wouldn't of made it that far and certainly wouldn't be blogging about it now. I felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude.
The Highstreet & Downtown
Wellington's Highsteet was a busy place. There's plenty of shops to browse both modern and old and I it's just nice to walk down. Everyone's freindly. Locals are getting on with their daily lives and tourists exploring the shops and that weird water bucket...thingy.
It's also the place where I entered a food eating competition in the evening because free food...it was who can eat a tub of hot noodles the quickest. BIG mistake! That was the hotest sauce I've ever ate in my life! I may of got a free dinner but I paid for it...over the next 2 days!
Moving on...
If you walk further out you'll come across another busy area which I call downtown. There's even more shops here and if you're lucky you can get free cookie samples :-D
This area is near to where the government buildings are. You forget such a relaxing place is the capital of an entire country! No photo's are allowed in that area for security reasons but you can actually walk through the grounds. In fact a school had just finished and all the kids simply cut through the government property to walk home.
There's one thing I've noticed in every city. There's always a place that stands out. Somewhere to relax and that's different to the rest. For me, it was just outside the local Library.
So what else is there to see/do in Wellington?
The Tu Papa Museum
This is meant to be the best Museum in New Zealand. It's certainly the most popular. But best? I'm not so sure. It was recomended to me by someone back when I was in Auckland and honestly out of the two museums, I prefer the one in Auckland. But is this worth visiting? Sure is, ever seen a giant squid? This place has one. Not alive obviously but it's still facinating to see something which for a very long time was thought to be a myth.
There's plenty to see here and you could easily spend an hour without really noticing. Great place to go on a rainy day.
At the time when I visited, there was a special exhibition about world war one which was really well laid out. It's crazy to think that such a peacefull place got involved in that conflict at all!
Some of the figures were huge and really well done.
Obviously there is much more to see and do here, but that would be spoiling it.
In addition, every Sunday next to the museum is a food market selling delicious fruit and veg, not to mention all the food vans. There's one that makes really yummy crepe's too. It's a god send if you plan on cooking vegitarian meals :-)
Laneway Backpackers
After staying 2 nights, we relocated to a different hostel. This was probably the weirdest hostel I've ever been in. It's located next to "Rebel Sports" and I don't even remember a reception or how to get the key to the room. I swear to god it was just hidden and we got a text telling us where to find it!
But I do remember this..
That's the lift up to the rooms and it is actually bigger on the inside...slightly. A nice touch.
The room had no windows so with lights off in the middle of the day it's pretty much pitch black! Confusing when you don't set an alarm in the morning, you'll miss half the day! However this place is very quiet and we basically had an in sweet kitchen which was really nice to have. Once more, the location was right on the main highstreet.
But there's another reason I'm mentioning this place. You see Wellington was where I wrote my first successful steemit post and this is the hostel where I published it for everyone else to read, not knowing what was to come. It's still probably one of my best posts today and if you haven't already, you can read about it here: https://partiko.app/tomatom/australia-east-coast-adventure-sydney-part-1-ddc28c9cc8418?referrer=tomatom
Botanical Gardens
These are worth a visit too, it's really nice that they sit above the city and there's even a famous cable car/train that you can use to head up there. Of course, there's always the option to walk up as I did.
The gardens are nice to walk around on a sunny day. In some parts you'll see flowers of all sorts of colours and in others it turns into a winding trail though a park. These are the best I've been to although I'm not much of garden person.
As well as being a nice place to look at at walk around, the gardens also make a another great viewpoint.
The Waterfront
Everyone loves a walk down the coast and Wellington is no exception. On a warm sunny day, it's a mix of everything all into one. Let me explain..
First there's the Harbour/Docks near the Tu Papa museum, where you walk past all the boats and little huts. Sometimes you see people Kayaking or paddle boarding here too.
As you make your way down to the Leisure center (which was my favourite place in the evening) you'll see a few restaurant's leading to the main beach.
Another great spot to simply sit and relax or go for a swim. One of the days I was there, there was a swimming/running race. Like a triathlon without the bikes. It was really great to witness the start of such an event.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/pJku81i5uQxL5ee77
I wanted to cheer on random locals as they ran by while I sat on my lazy arse. I did swim one day however, see that floating platform? I swam out to that and climbed aboard to warm up. The water was cold, no wonder they all had wetsuits!
Heading further, the beach starts to open up but strangely there's less and less people.
High up sitting on the hill was a couchsurfers house where I stayed for the last couple of nights, but that's another story.
An odd place to unwind
Earlier on, I mentioned the Leisure center being my favourite spot in the evening. How sad that sounds right? Well I didn't go in the building and certainly didn't end the day by going to the gym or swimming or any other activity in there, nope. There's a spot on one side of it, facing the boats and sheltered from the wind. The result feels like when you're indoors and the sun shines through the windown on you; warm and comforting yet I was outside. I contemplated everything I had done that day and everything I had achieved since I left home. Not mention everything that was yet to come...
The Rays
I didn't mention it earlier but as you walk along the waterfront you may come across some sting rays (I think), big ones! I think they were using the boat ramps to relax in the warmer water. Watever the reason, one decided to come and say hello.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/N1VceDWWxcrf9JReA
I thought this was a rare occasion but little did I know that close by to the hostel was a small area of water next to a local cafe/bar which the rays have made themselves at home.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/5ECeXkUFPPVPA2Wx5
There's far more to see around Wellington, it trully is an underated place to visit. One place I haven't mentioned is a high ropes a short train ride away. But that deserves it's own post.
The airport
Even the airport is an attraction in it's own right. I really like the effort they put in with the Lord Of the Rings models in there. If you are a huge Lord Of the Rings fan, this is the airport to land in!
This was the best one of all, a robotic model of Smaug, the dragon from The Hobbit. His eye opens and he looks at you. It's so awesome!
The origional plan was to fly to Queenstown and spend Christmas and new years there, but the flights were so expensive I had to bail.
So instead, we flew to somewhere I'd never even heard of...Dunedin?
Travel doesn't become adventure, untill you leave yourself behind.
That's all I have to share with you now. There's one more place I visited whilst I ws here, but that deserves it's own post.
As always, thank you for reading.
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