Derek got back to the hotel about an hour after I arrived which was nice; he'd done four training sessions that day so was pretty keen to get out and walk about outside which was nice for me and it was a lovely evening.
The waterfront is three blocks from the photo above (this bus stop area was on the terrace below where we were) so a nice walk past lots of lovely shops to get to it.
I have lots of photos I want to put in this blog (sorry) so will put in another slideshow if that is OK.
I came up here the last time I was here about five years ago but the tram wasn't running so it was nice to get on it this time. The gardens themselves are lovely to walk through. A lot of the planting was done by a Yorkshireman early last century; he planted many of the trees that are still here and are the foundations of the whole place. So another slide show coming up!
The Begonia House and Lily pond are just beautiful and deserve a slide show of their very own so here goes!
The road then takes you down through a cemetery and over the motorway to the parliament buildings which you can go in and have a tour. I missed it by five minutes (shouldn't have had the carrot cake!) but then that is OK as it is another thing on my list to do for next time. Paddy, my next door neighbour, says it is well worth a look and is very interesting. I went in the House of Commons in my teens so it only seems fair I should go in here too.
The buildings here are pretty nice too and they call the Parliament one "The Beehive' - you will see why.
So then back through town, passed the railway station and back to the Wharf front where I spent the rest of the afternoon - I did have a bit of retail therapy on the way too and bought a couple of tops in the 'sale'. There are so many shops here that if I was that way inclined, I could have spent all day in. Luckily for me I'm not, good for Derek's wallet too! |
I hope you are not having too much trouble downloading all this as there are lots of photos on this blog but I kind of want to keep it all together so bear with me. More slideshow stuff!
The noise when you go in of bird life and cicadas is wonderful. New Zealand birds are very noisy!!
They have the very precious Takahe birds here and although they are a pretty laid back couple and have only produced one baby in their time here, they are allowed to stay as they are so rare. They thought they were extinct before the settlers even got here (the Maori ate them all as they are flightless, pretty tame and slow, very big and curious) so it was a privilege to see two of them as they are confined to off shore islands in the South Island now. They are not very 'romantic' birds so don't breed very fast which is half the problem and their eggs are taken by all those nasty predators.
They also have lots of Kaka parrots here which are similar to the Kea parrots we have down South and nearly as naughty. They are loud and boisterous and very beautiful.
We ate Mexican that night then dashed over to the side of Te Papa - the Wellington Museum - for the free open air concert. We had been over that way the night before and I got talking to a lady who was in the choir which is how we found out about it. And what a concert it was! Two hundred teenagers playing drums, drummers from the Cook Island, a hundred strong choir and a reggae type band plus a Maori singer who together made the most glorious sound for an hour and a half. I danced the night away! I am a sucker for drums, they make my feet move and the atmosphere was great. There was a huge crowd for this start to the New Zealand 2014 Music Festival and I am so glad we got to be part of it. Derek loved it too and it was so nice as we haven't been to see a live band together since we went to Exeter to see The Oyster Band.
And tomorrow we are off again, south this time for a few days. Can't wait!!
Three photos from the air for you to follow - Christchurch and Akaroa/Cromwell and Lake Dunstan and Wanaka