Ohakune to Wellington
Trip Start
Feb 25, 2008
1
10
18
Trip End
Mar 08, 2008
Wellington,
New Zealand
Sunday, March 2, 2008
We left the motel about 9:30 and headed up the mountain road to the ski field as the cloud had lifted enough to make it worthwhile. The route was like going through a rain forest, but then turned into a rugged rocky landscape as we climbed. As the weather had been bad overnight, there were lots of debris on the road, rocks bigge than footballs were more common the higher we got. There were also steep drops on the side of the road, sometimes on both sides, and as the wind was blowing and we got more into the clouds we turned around and headed back down. As we did so, we noticed the petrol gage was flashing so we ended up 'free wheeling' a lot of the way to save petrol. but we made it down ok. The views from the the mountain road had been fantastic though.
Whilst in the petrol station I made a comment to the salesman about the weather being better today and he pointed out that the mountain could now be seen
Mount Ruapehu
. And what a site it was, magnificent ! You could see it in all it's splender from the town.We headed out of town and saw the biggest carrot you have ever seen !
As the journey was a long one to the South, we decided to go the shortest route and so missed Palmerston North and went straight through to Levin, about 3/4 of the way to Wellington. The scenery had been it's usual spectacular self, loads of mountains, gorges, passes and some plains. The journey was quite up and down at times. the traffic on our travels has been superb, not once have we been stuck behind anything, a lot of the time we have been out on our own, other cars have been stuck behind us a few times though, our car isn't too good with hills when fully loaded !!
On the way to Levin, we passed through a place called Bulls, and as at home on a Sunday, there was a car boot sale taking place on a street corner. We didn't stop off though, but shold have done really I suppose.
Levin was a fairly big town, in comparison with a lot of the others we have been through. We called in a bakery/cafe and had cheese sandwiches and chips, just for a change, not bad. We got chatting to the owner about the trip, everyone has been really friendly on the trip, everyone is interested in what you are doing, and all have been very encouraging when we say we are looking to move out here, not one person has frowned upon it
Big Carrot !
. which has been really good to know. People have commented on New Zealand being a bit split between Maori's and White New Zealanders, but the Maori's we have met have been great people, just your normal blokes.the road from Levin follows the Kapati coast south to Wellington, there were loads of signs for beaches on the road so we took a right and headed off to have a look. The beach was massive, you could see for miles, North and South. It was a bit windy, so we didn't stay for long, but long enough to dip our feet in the sea to find out it wasn't as warm as 'up North'.
We arrived in Wellington, and for a change the map took us straight to the suburb we were staying in called Johnsonville. We took a couple of wrong turns near the B&B, and completely missed the entrance the first time, but found it eventually.
It's a lovely place, a 100 yr old restored wooden cottage in some lovely gardens, on a slope (as all Wellington is) over looking the valley. Joy and Autry are a lovely couple, really chatty and very hospitable, they made us feel right at home. And again, they are very interested in what we are doing and have offered ther opinions on the places in New Zealand and Wellington in particular.
As we had been told several times on the way down here, Wellington was very windy, not too cold, but very windy, and we had some rain in the late evening aswell.
We had a drive down to Petone in the late afternoon, which is the suburb on the North side of the Wellington Harbour, at the south end of the Hutt valley, which is where the IBM building is. Once I knew where that was we headed off to have a look at Wellington City centre, as it would be quieter on a Sunday so we could get our bearings. We had a walk along the quayside and although windy, it was still warm enough for shorts and t-shirts.
Comments
love the carrot!
It's been great watching your progress. You seem to be fitting a heck of a lot in. You'll need a holiday when you get back !?!?! Good luck with the interviews. Have a fab time! Karen and Co XXXXX
carrot!
I'm guessing that's the nearest you've ever been to a carrot (unless it's been put into a chicken tikka)!!