From Taupo to Wellington, December 3 & 4

 December 3

   Today was a travel day. Last night there was a major thunder storm which woke us both us. The weather predicted a full day of rain.

   

Such a different terrain - on the Desert Road

Highway 1

 We drove down Highway 1 to Wellington. It is still surprising to us that a major route to the capital is really just like a country road at home.  And, leaving Taupo, we went by Mount Tongariro and one of its sister volcanos and it became quite twisty for a while.

     We found out why that stretch is called "the Desert Highway." The road climbed to a peak of 3,550 feet and the terrain changed to dry scrubby land without trees for quite a few miles. 

    It was about a 5 hour drive to the capital. There was a period of about 15 minutes where it really bucketed rain and visibility was reduced. Luckily, the rain came and went and never bucketed again. However, we only stopped briefly as we wanted to get there in hopes of avoiding more downpours. As we approached Wellington, it got hilly and we descended pretty steeply into a steep city!

   Finding the hotel, Boulcott Suites, was a bit tricky and getting into the parking garage was also tricky as the spot was so tight.

    We are on the 4th floor and have a little apartment. We are staying in tonight as we are tired. We carry peanut butter and jelly and other things to eat.

December 4 - David's birthday

     We had a surprisingly sunny day here as the clouds cleared away - it was not predicted, so it was great. Before we left the hotel we worked on our Christmas card photos and ordered them. Hard decisions.

      We returned the car to the rental agency which was a bit hilarious as we needed to find a gas station that was supposedly 3 minutes away and it took us about 15. The streets here are very narrow.  We walked to the waterfront from the car place. En route, we decided to buy a bus pass.

View from our window at Boulcott Suites

      We had a little difficulty buying the bus pass. We went to one store which sold us the card, but couldn't top it up. So, we went down the street to another store - their machine was down and couldn't top it up either! The third store also had difficulty, but, with patience, their machine worked. 

     We walked down to the harbor and to the information bureau.

   

 We ate lunch at a fantastic restaurant "The Old Quarter" and both had duck & orange salads, sitting outside in the sun.

On the harbor

      From there, we took the bus up to Mount Victoria with views over the city. We thought this was a good idea since the day was so clear. The ride up and down the tortuous road on the bus was like being on an amusement park ride, especially on the way down as the driver was fast and a bit grumpy, too.

View of Wellington from Mt Victoria

        We got food at a local market and ate egg salad sandwiches in our room.

       It was a good day. We found that our hotel is well located and that we are not up as steep a hill as we'd thought and it will be easy to walk into downtown to the restaurants etc.