Petit Hotel Martinborough

... would have been hard to meet without a pit stop in Featherston. Back on the road and after probably 20 miles of arrow straight roads we hit the coast and the roads got twistier and in places just turned to gravel. An hour after we left Featherston we finally made it to Cape Palliser and then has negotiate the 300 or so steps up the lighthouse. We did and it was well worth it for the evening sun spread out across Palliser Bay.

What ...

... loads going on. From. Wellington I head out on the train to Martinborough for a helpx stay. I stay with am English couple called Marcus and Wendy who are great fun a live in an amazing house I am very fortunate to have there complete guest suite to myself and it is pure luxury, not only do I have my own lounge I have a spa pool outside !!!I end up doing a few small jobs around the house and have a wonderful stay ...

... but made the wait a bit more uncomfortable for A2 knowing all about the previous disasters in the area. B2 had one of the hikes of his life. It was tough, scary, amazing, fantastically scenic, difficult, crazy windy, and emotionally striking. There were several sections of track on top of snow; the information office specifically told us not to walk on snow, since a person had fallen through a sink hole the previous week ...

Wednesday 8 October Lower Hutt S 41° 14.1' E 174° 54.7' By the side of the road each time you approach a forest, there's a graduated sign indicating "Risk of Fire Today" - it's been solidly in the "Low" section every day so far. The same sign design was used to indicate "Risk of Ice" (I think) at one point I passed. Today, leaving the University town of Palmerston, the identical sign design indicated that "Risk of ...

... another cache, this one situated in a nature reserve in the hills above town. A longer climb than we expected (but still only 10 or 15 minutes) took us to a viewpoint overlooking the Wairarapa, and, theoretically, a cache. As light was waning and we still faced a muddy slippery walk back, we didn't search too thoroughly before admitting failure and heading back to the car, and thence back over the hill to the Hutt Valley and down to Wellington.

... attention to the goat, I was surprised to turn around to find a deer just on my heels. There were a number of such animals in the same enclosure as the goats, but most of them kept their distance from me as I passed. Not this one; this was the gregarious deer. It let me pet it and it nuzzled me happily. I even thought it might want to come home with us, but it held back halfway down the hill and let me go on my way. Probably just disappointed ...

... chairs and picnic blankets galore. We managed to get $10 chairs from The Warehouse and took some food as well. We were also lucky with the weather as when we left Wellington we had heavy intermittent showers, but as soon as we got over the hills, the sun was shining and it was really hot. A lovely way to spend Sunday afternoon!

... which is a huge party day at the horse races. It's an excuse for all the girls (ok, guys too) to get dolled up to extremes, complete with hats and/or feather hairpieces, and dresses or skirts. I went with Sarah, one of the girls I met while staying in Auckland around Fiji time, and some of her friends (and their friends!). We took the train, to Trentham which is about an hour from Wellington. Anyways, it was a gorgeous day, the downside being it is a massively popular event with HUGE ...

... avocats et crevettes en entrée, Trevally (poisson de NZ) au barbeque avec des petits poix, poivrons, chorizo et coquilles St Jacques. En dessert, des marshmallows cuits au feu de bois. Nous avons également bu une bouteille de Sauvignon blanc que nous avions acheté lors de notre tournée des caves dans la région de Hawke's bay. C'était vraiment parfait, ils avaient annoncés de la pluie mais au final le temps à tenu. Nous avons même fait ...

... It is a job lot, you know. So they have Nanna and Pa as well as Nanna and Grampas now. Onwards we drove to Wellington, where we even encountered a Motorway! Very exciting, but it seemed like the New Zealanders didn't know how to use it. We took a quick detour through the town centre, and past the Australian Embassy (or High Commission, we're not sure) in a dry run attempt for tomorrow's voting attempt. But as it was almost five, we adjudged ...