Wellington Hotels
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New Zealand's most livable city
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I woke up this morning and headed around the coastal route of New Plymouth hoping to catch a glimpse of Mt. Taranaki. I traveled along route 45 (surf highway) hoping the rain and cloud would lift just a little bit enough for me to see the ocean or a glimpse of Mt. Taranaki. Not a chance, the rain and fog were not gonna letup. The fog in the morning was pretty intense and I could not see but 20 feet ahead of me in some places. I drove down one stretch of road just so I could say I saw the ocean even if it was foggy and rainy. I know I could have chosen to drive around the coastal route of Napier where it would have been much sunnier, but I wanted to see Mt. Taranaki. The sky was grey and high clouds the entire time only improving slightly after the turnoff from Palmerstown North. I was amazed to see tourists wearing shorts and summer attire with such crappy weather (definitely not a strong summer vibe type atmosphere going on with the weather).
I arrived in downtown Wellington about 2:30 in the afternoon and thought about where I wanted to spend the night. Part of me wanted to drive up the east coast and settle the night in Napier, but then again I really liked the way I felt about Wellington the first time I arrived so I decided to stay in Wellington. I went to the Apollo Motor Lodge because I had read it was a nice place to stay at reasonable rates but they were booked solid and suggested the Capital View Motor Inn which was a little more removed from the central business district but still within walking distance. The Capital View Motor Inn is a slightly older hotel, but with spacious rooms and a full kitchen and at a reasonable price. I was still in close proximity to all downtown, oriental bay, and everything that makes Wellington so wonderful and why I chose to come here. I got situated in my hotel room and decided to go for a drive around seatoun, miramar, and lyall bay. I checked out Stone Street studios and it was still unguarded, filled with movie props and sitting in it's usual unpretentious state (which was great!). I drove around the extremely narrow and curvy road through Seatoun onto Lyall bay checking out the views of the bay and enjoying the sunshine. I was surprised to find Lyall Bay was really flat with no wave action to be seen, although I did spot three or four surfers in the water (I guess it's a good place to learn). It is a straight shot to Oriental Bay and downtown Wellington from Lyall Bay as I soon discovered. I drove through Kilburnie and Angus Retirement Village which was a site used for a short film featured on the two disc version of the two towers (the dairy was no longer there though).
I stayed at my motel room for about a half-hour before heading out to enjoy the wonderful sunshine. I walked down to Oriental Bay and spotted myself a bench with a great view and enjoyed the warm sun against my skin. This must be what Wellington is like on a good day, but then again, everyday in Wellington is great. I think thats how the saying goes and it's true. I guess you just have to experience it for yourself because no amount of words can convey it. I walked over to New World and pick up some grocery items for dinner latter on and headed back to my hotel room and watched a good crime show on sky tv.
I was feeling a little tired but I wanted to go out and feel the city vibe at night time so I headed down to Courtney Place and checked out the trendy bars and cafes (no shortage of people and places to choose from). I am surprised at the number of bordello and gentleman's clubs available in the city. I really wasn't dressed for a night out nor was I in the drinking kinda mood, but i am glad I got out and walked around a little bit. I started walking back to motel and I saw some fireworks that looked like they were coming from the roof of my motel (maybe it's the little things that make me smile, but this really delightful). I walked back up to my room and I saw more fireworks in the distance and some neighbors in their apartment next door had roman candles and were lighting them off left and right. It was so odd, but it was definitely cool in my opinion to have fireworks right next door on my last night in Wellington.
The following morning I was starting to pack up my suitcases, when I discovered I had lost my keys to the rental car. I quickly did a thorough search of the motel room and my suitcases, but I could not find them anywhere. I was really starting to sweat because I had to be checked out by 10:00AM ad only had forty five minutes to try and find them. I walked as quickly as I could to the internet cafes I visited to see if I had left them there, but no luck. I walked as quickly as I could to my motel room to explain my situation to the hotel manager which was embarrassing. I felt like I was a complete annoyance hanging around looking for my car keys after check out time. The manager was nice enough and even helped me search the room to see if they were there. I could not find the damn things so I had to phone Avis and arrange for another car which cost me $500 for the lost key (what else was I going to do). I left my name and number with the hotel manager in case somehow it managed to appear and apologized for being such a nuisance. I really was not ready to head home yet, but I felt like I had to make a decision about that sooner rather than later.
I drove around oriental bay one last time before heading onto the highway towards New Plymouth and said goodbye to the craggy coastline that hugs Wellington. I drove up around New Plymouth and it was still really cloudy and no sight of Mt Taranaki in the distance (even though I knew it was there). It wasn't until I arrived in Hamilton that I decided to grab a motel room for the night in preparation for my departure to San Diego. The town of Hamilton is rather large, or should I say larger than I thought it was gonna be. The motel room was modern with full kitchen, coffee maker, and tv (recently renovated from the looks of the construction). I haven't heard very many nice things about Hamilton on the internet or otherwise, and generally most people refer to as a "hole".
I got up in the morning and still had some time on my hands before I drove north to the airport and decided to head west towards Raglan Beach, a town with a heavy surfer vibe (New Zealand's version of Venice). The drive out towards Raglan beach is along another one of overly curvy, windy, wouldn't a straight road make more sense kind of roads New Zealand is famous for. Raglan is set against green, rolling hills, with black sand beaches and sheep with the occasional batches or hippie huts as I call them. The downtown of Raglan has a little bit of a small town surfer vibe that would appeal to twenty somethings. It's kinda what I expected which is why I didn't stop by the first time I drove down the North Island.
I drove up to Auckland to turn in my car and catch my flight back home. I had forgotten about the weight limitations and liquid restrictions for flying and had to throw away some things (another ineffective strategy on the war on terror). The flight back to Los Angeles included a stop in Nadi, Fiji (stepping out of the plane was like walking into a steam room). The Nadi airport was really small and very crowded. I was surprised to see how dark skinned the Fijian people were and even more surprised to see how pale the flight crew on Air New Zealand was in comparison when I returned to board after the hour and half stop-over. I chatted a little bit with a San Diego state student returning from Melbourne, Australia who had been flying all day and was quite tired. Sleeping on the plane was not exactly comfortable and I had king size kinks in my neck as a result of trying.
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