Du Pont Motel Wellington

Not much to report today. I managed to turn over and go back to sleep several times between 6 (when the kids woke up) and 9 when I finally stumbled downstairs to get some breakfast. I had obviously had an uncharacteristically long lie in as Gracie – aged 2 – looked at me in shock and you said 'you're waked up!’

Options for the day were somewhat stymied by weather that would be very ...

... than the UK and has 8% of the population – it means that nowhere (other than Auckland) is ever busy. This held true this morning as I drove down to the Putangirua Scenic reserve to go check out the Pinnacles. This is a layer of gravels that have been eroded by rain and river action with the more consolidated patched resisting erosion longer to form 100-150ft high towers somewhat akin to very pointy sand castles. In true Fordy ...

... but Leszek did his best at bird watching & filming - his camera work with the cam corder was "awesome!" (The next David Attenborough?!) More amusing is Leszeks new learned words, from the cockney language. It was so chilly the other night, "flipping nora" just came out of my mouth (mum?!) That spurned on some research to help Leszek understand: Apparently this was an expression used by one of the characters in the 70's TV series 'Love ...

... then! Rob's working there for 3 months and I'll be with him in Wellington for 3 weeks then we're off travelling around the south island for 3 weeks so will make sure we post lots of photos and snippets to make you all jealous! Any comments will be more than welcome!

... trip and they will drop off my backpack and camping gear at my campsite tonight and then I can leave it there in the morning for them to pick up again. I don't think I would want to do the walk if I had to carry my backpack. I enjoy the challenge of the walk but I also want to enjoy it. The guy at the water taxi place reassured me that I can do the distance I planned in two days, no problem. Even though it's longer than the Tongariro Crossing it is easier terrain ...

... 9 uur open en lekker rustig in de avond. De eerste indruk van het museum was al overweldigend, zo groot en er staat zo enorm veel... ze waarschuwden me al bij de receptie van het YHA dat je er met gemak een volle dag kan spenderen, dat geloof ik direct. 27-03: De auto verkast en nog wat dingen bekeken in het museum waar ik geen tijd meer voor had gisteren avond. Het was nu redelijk druk, dus ik was blij dat ik veel dingen al de avond ervoor in alle rust ...

... afternoon I met Gary at the Old Bank Arcade in downtown Wellington, and wound up chatting with the girl working at the coffee house, on working holiday visa from Germany, and invited her out with us that night. She came along and we had a blast! It was Jude's friends birthday and we went to a bar called 3C in Wellington then to a late night pizza joint with every pizza ...

... great views over the lake, then after a little free pool, we turned in. Tuesday 10th February Wanaka Drove off south of Wanaka to explore around the Treble Cone ski area. Passed the place where I'd been climbing on my last trip. Once again the ski area was closed so we spent a little time skimming stones and lazing before having lunch, which for Mike and consisted of an enormous sausage roll each! In the evening we went to the local 'Cinema Paradiso' and saw the latest Coen brothers ...

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We looked at a few backpacker hostels before settling on the 3rd one, a re-furbished old hotel in the centre of town. More importantly, no big hill to climb on the way back home!

With the formalities done (including some complicated car parking arrangements), we headed off on foot through the ...

... ihr Essen mit mir geteilt, mir trockene Socken und eine Plastiktüte als Schlafstätte für die Nacht gegeben. So eine Plastiktüte ist nicht nur unglaublich laut bei jeder Bewegung, sondern biete auch keinerlei Isolierung in der Winterkälte. Ich war also froh, als die ersten Sonnenstrahlen den Himmel erleuchteten und ich meine Wanderung zurück in die Zivilisation fortsetzen konnte. Bin noch an dem Teich und Wasserfall vorbeigekommen, wo Gollum von den Rebellen unter ...