Day 15 - Saturday 27th September

Today we'd be staying in Wellington and so there was no need to get up quite so early. We had a very nice buffet breakfast in the hotel restaurant on the mezzanine level at about 7:45am. Our only commitment today was a tour starting at 9am showing the highlights of Wellington. It was on our APT bus with Karen our guide and Malcolm our driver.

The tour initially followed the edge of the harbour. It was a sunny day at that stage and so the harbour was very pretty. There were plenty of expensive boats moored at the marinas along the way.

Then the coach headed inland to travel through the tunnel under Mount Victoria and then climbed up to the top of Mount Victoria. This is a very tall hill that is close to the city centre and gives a fabulous 360 degree view of the city, harbour, airport and out to sea.

Next we drove to the parliament house where we stopped again to take photos. There are three buildings on the hill slightly above the waterfront area. The building on the left is circular and is referred to as the "beehive".

The final destination was the national museum which is located on the waterfront only a few blocks away from our hotel. We had time for a cup of coffee before the guided tour started at 11am.

Karen left us in the very capable hands of a museum guide. One of the first places he took us was to the dinosaur exhibit which is currently on loan from the Sydney Museum. Other exhibits showed various aspects of New Zealand history, wildlife, earthquakes and Maori culture.

The guided tour finished soon after midday and the guide invited us to spend more time at the museum. We found the Phar Lap exhibit that contains the horse's skeleton. Next we visited the earthquake experience where you stand inside a small house while they simulate an earthquake.

It was a most enjoyable morning. The bus tour was very worthwhile and the museum was very impressive.

After we went back to the hotel, Suzy set out to go shopping for the afternoon whereas I took the opportunity to catch up on my blog and photos.

I found a nearby cafe to have lunch. On the way back I saw two women - one of whom had a moon boot on her leg and was riding a scooter like my brother is currently using after his foot operation. They commented that they hadn't heard about these scooters before either. Her friend or sister said she enjoyed joyriding on the scooter just like I had.

They asked me where the Green Parrot Restaurant was. I told them I didn't have a clue but I found it about 20m further on and so I went back to find them but by then they'd vanished. When I got back to the hotel I met Darlene and Walter leaving the hotel. They asked me if I knew where the Green Parrot was and so I was able to tell them.

Suzy got back from her shopping expedition earlier than I expected and asked asked me how I was going with my washing. Whoops! I'd forgotten to go to the guest laundry. When I got there, I found there was a queue of APT passenger waiting to use the one and only washer and dryer.

The washing machine was very noisy - it shook and vibrated like a New Zealand earthquake. Darlene joked that it seemed to be trying to shake the dirt off rather than washing it off. I pitied the people in rooms near the guest laundry.

Suzy had injured her ankle on her shopping trip. Despite the pain, she decided to go back and buy the short-sleeve warm jacket she'd seen earlier. Such dedication. It would be great for the South Island next week.

Because of her sore foot, we decided to go to the hotel restaurant for dinner. The waitress seemed to be run off her feet and the service was slow. I had a steak and Suzy had a chicken dish. Both meals were well presented. I thought the steak was pretty average - it was like a cheap cut from the supermarket despite the high price we paid. Maybe they don't do a good job with steak in NZ. As usual, the wine was expensive.

It had started raining late in the afternoon. Wellington has a reputation for being windy and it had been fairly windy today. We'd enjoyed the sunshine this morning. We'd liked Wellington. It seems like a very nice city.