glimpses of mount doom
from Taupo and its excitement i travelled down to wellington, which would be my last glimpse of the north island. we didn’t stop much, and in some ways there wasnt much else to ‘do’, but the journey itself was an absolute pleasure. frost and snow becoming more visible in the landscape as we drove through it, and something of a preview for the south island still to come.
Wellington struck me as quite a stylish city, but i was surprised at how quiet it was for a capital! spent two nights there, and most of the second day was spent in yet another fascinating museum, the Te Papa national museum. from new zealand wildlife to earthquakes to maori culture it was the perfect day to spend indoors while the rain bucketed it down outside. spent some time trying on the animal hats and tails in the kids corner which gave us lots of hilarious photo opportunities.. the somewhat stern glares of the parents eventually sent us a little sheepishly away (except Joanna who walked around the rest of the museum with a lion tail attached). the wildlife info also had recordings of children talking about the animals and relaying such gems as “the leather backed sea turtle wouldn’t make a good pet as it cant see very well and would hit its head on the water tank when it was swimming”.. you can guess already i was kept amused!
and in a flash i was on the ferry the next morning and leaving the north island behind. a 3 1/2 hour trip, and spent most of it dozing off the early wake up call, but did manage to glimpse some dolphins swimming alongside the ferry towards the end. Arrival in picton was nothing out of the ordinary and before long had jumped aboard the magic bus again and en route to nelson where we were to spend the night.
although nelson is meant to be the sunniest place in the whole of the south island, soaking up more rays than any other, we weren’t to be given this treatment! it was fairly dismal and cloudy as we drove on in, but early enough to grab a wander through the town itself and the shops. of particular note in this town is a small jewellers which ‘forged’ the ring(s) for the lord of the rings films, and has a small plaque outside which tells that much.
my travelling companions and i were all happy enough to have a chilled out evening, and got rather obsessed at finishing off a puzzle of the map of new zealand. when it got closer to 1am, though, we finally called it a night, with those last frustrating pieces left behind for another poor sap to try their luck at.
Rx
