We caught the inter-island ferry from Picton to Wellington. It takes about three hours and was an uneventful crossing, which was exactly what needed considering our previous stormy boat journey. From the port we drove to Keith and Sue's house just outside Wellington city centre. They live in a pretty wooden house in the hills.
We had a few lazy days taking advantage of the couch after a jam packed month in the camper van. Emmet was very excited by the prospect of the playstation and worked on his FIFA skills. Once rested, we had a couple of days exploring in Wellington. We wandered the streets, visited a museum, had hearty lunches and, of course, many coffees. Keith had informed us that Wellington has great coffee, and we weren't disappointed. On one of our walks back from said coffee establishments, Emmet tripped up on a cats eye on a busy street and landed flat out in the middle of the road. He decided just humbly standing up was for losers. Instead, during his clumsy fall across the road, he added a James Bond style tumble to some what restore what ever pride he had left. It didn't and Emmet was keen to make a swift exit. Unfortunately, Niamh's concern for Emmet's urgent want to evacuate the area was overwritten by the fact that she was crouched in a heap trying not to wet herself with laughter.
The next morning Emmet and Keith went to watch Ireland get annihilated by Germany at an ungodly hour. Sue brought Niamh to her pottery class, which was really enjoyable. I made a fruit bowl with a fox on it. It will need several weeks to dry out, so Sue will have to take over from here!
We went for a big night out on the Saturday. First we went to a great Japanese restaurant and had a delicious meal. We got a chicken and egg dish which was cooked in a big pot in front of us and a noodle soup. Afterwards we went bowling where we put in embarrassingly bad performance. Niamh's key aim was not to throw the ball in the gutter, which happened 60 per cent of the time, all the time.
We headed out after and went to the library bar, which just had books everywhere, funnily enough. A few people headed off then and the rest of us went to a cool bar called the Mighty Mighty. They have live bands playing and good DJs normally. This time unfortunately the band wasn't great. We stayed a while, but there is only so much one can take. The singer did have an outstanding white coat with giant shoulder pads but that was as good as it got I'm afraid. So we went bar hopping for a bit, one place was called The Alice Bar, which was based on Alice in Wonderland. We were looking for a bit of a party place at this stage of the night, but all the usual good spots didn't have good music on that you can get your funk on to. So a kebab it was. A big, fat kebab. I said, "Whats your finest kebab old fello?". He said "The Supreme". I said "The Supreme it is so good sir". And supreme it was!
The following day was a hangover day for all. Keith whipped up a big roast, which was really good. Then the TV was all that was needed to nurse us back to health.
Our next destination was the art deco town of Napier. It was one of our favourite cities in New Zealand. The architecture was really unique and the place had a nice buzz to it. We even had our own peeping Tom behind our van in the campsite.
We also found the nicest cafe so far. It even had knitting. They have a box with loads of knitted squares that customers can add to. Once they have a load of squares they will sew up a blanket for people who need blankets. No guesses to what Niamh done for an hour.
We squeezed in round three of mini golf...the decider. Emmet won, for now. That evening we gave the Jucy van DVD player a rest and went to the cinema to see Taken 2. Better than the first one and alright for what it is.
The next stop was smelly Rotorua. It is a town based in a volcanic region and stinks of sulphur. As usual there is all he overpriced tours you can do, instead, we found a self guided driving and walking tour and headed off ourselves. It was great craic. We went to see sulphur pools with wafts of steam pouring out of them and the grounds of old Victorian baths with lovely flower gardens.
They had a community art centre with some really great pieces, including teapot decorations and ceramic skulls. What more do you need?
That evening we went to the cinema again. We found an independent cinema that shows obscure films in the smallest theatre in the world. We might as well have been in a rich persons living room. It was lovely though. You can even buy wine if it takes your fancy, swish. We saw Hysteria with Hugh Dancy and Maggie Gyllenhaal, which was really good and definitely recommended. I just tried to write a mini film review, it wasn't very successful so I suggest people try google instead if their interested.
Our final stop in New Zealand was Auckland. We firstly had to drop our van back which was a sad moment after 5 great weeks together. Our sadness quickly disintegrated when we arrived at Niamh's cousin Ilona's house. Ilona lives just outside the city centre with her husband Joe and their two kids. Sophie is only one and we hadn't met her yet. Eva is five now and was only a baby when we saw her last. We had a catch up and many cups of tea, which progressed to wine. It was great to see everyone again.
We spent the next couple of days wandering the streets, drinking coffee and visited a museum (probably one of the shortest visits ever, but we did get to see one exhibition). There was a triathlon on so we spent some time looking for Irish racers and cheering them on. Exciting stuff! Haven't seen that many Irish people sweating since the construction crash.
We have enjoyed our time in New Zealand, but it is now time to move on. The next stop is Cairns in Australia, so until then.
We had a few lazy days taking advantage of the couch after a jam packed month in the camper van. Emmet was very excited by the prospect of the playstation and worked on his FIFA skills. Once rested, we had a couple of days exploring in Wellington. We wandered the streets, visited a museum, had hearty lunches and, of course, many coffees. Keith had informed us that Wellington has great coffee, and we weren't disappointed. On one of our walks back from said coffee establishments, Emmet tripped up on a cats eye on a busy street and landed flat out in the middle of the road. He decided just humbly standing up was for losers. Instead, during his clumsy fall across the road, he added a James Bond style tumble to some what restore what ever pride he had left. It didn't and Emmet was keen to make a swift exit. Unfortunately, Niamh's concern for Emmet's urgent want to evacuate the area was overwritten by the fact that she was crouched in a heap trying not to wet herself with laughter.
The next morning Emmet and Keith went to watch Ireland get annihilated by Germany at an ungodly hour. Sue brought Niamh to her pottery class, which was really enjoyable. I made a fruit bowl with a fox on it. It will need several weeks to dry out, so Sue will have to take over from here!
We went for a big night out on the Saturday. First we went to a great Japanese restaurant and had a delicious meal. We got a chicken and egg dish which was cooked in a big pot in front of us and a noodle soup. Afterwards we went bowling where we put in embarrassingly bad performance. Niamh's key aim was not to throw the ball in the gutter, which happened 60 per cent of the time, all the time.
We headed out after and went to the library bar, which just had books everywhere, funnily enough. A few people headed off then and the rest of us went to a cool bar called the Mighty Mighty. They have live bands playing and good DJs normally. This time unfortunately the band wasn't great. We stayed a while, but there is only so much one can take. The singer did have an outstanding white coat with giant shoulder pads but that was as good as it got I'm afraid. So we went bar hopping for a bit, one place was called The Alice Bar, which was based on Alice in Wonderland. We were looking for a bit of a party place at this stage of the night, but all the usual good spots didn't have good music on that you can get your funk on to. So a kebab it was. A big, fat kebab. I said, "Whats your finest kebab old fello?". He said "The Supreme". I said "The Supreme it is so good sir". And supreme it was!
The following day was a hangover day for all. Keith whipped up a big roast, which was really good. Then the TV was all that was needed to nurse us back to health.
Our next destination was the art deco town of Napier. It was one of our favourite cities in New Zealand. The architecture was really unique and the place had a nice buzz to it. We even had our own peeping Tom behind our van in the campsite.
We also found the nicest cafe so far. It even had knitting. They have a box with loads of knitted squares that customers can add to. Once they have a load of squares they will sew up a blanket for people who need blankets. No guesses to what Niamh done for an hour.
We squeezed in round three of mini golf...the decider. Emmet won, for now. That evening we gave the Jucy van DVD player a rest and went to the cinema to see Taken 2. Better than the first one and alright for what it is.
The next stop was smelly Rotorua. It is a town based in a volcanic region and stinks of sulphur. As usual there is all he overpriced tours you can do, instead, we found a self guided driving and walking tour and headed off ourselves. It was great craic. We went to see sulphur pools with wafts of steam pouring out of them and the grounds of old Victorian baths with lovely flower gardens.
They had a community art centre with some really great pieces, including teapot decorations and ceramic skulls. What more do you need?
That evening we went to the cinema again. We found an independent cinema that shows obscure films in the smallest theatre in the world. We might as well have been in a rich persons living room. It was lovely though. You can even buy wine if it takes your fancy, swish. We saw Hysteria with Hugh Dancy and Maggie Gyllenhaal, which was really good and definitely recommended. I just tried to write a mini film review, it wasn't very successful so I suggest people try google instead if their interested.
Our final stop in New Zealand was Auckland. We firstly had to drop our van back which was a sad moment after 5 great weeks together. Our sadness quickly disintegrated when we arrived at Niamh's cousin Ilona's house. Ilona lives just outside the city centre with her husband Joe and their two kids. Sophie is only one and we hadn't met her yet. Eva is five now and was only a baby when we saw her last. We had a catch up and many cups of tea, which progressed to wine. It was great to see everyone again.
We spent the next couple of days wandering the streets, drinking coffee and visited a museum (probably one of the shortest visits ever, but we did get to see one exhibition). There was a triathlon on so we spent some time looking for Irish racers and cheering them on. Exciting stuff! Haven't seen that many Irish people sweating since the construction crash.
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| Emmet on a really steep hill. |
We have enjoyed our time in New Zealand, but it is now time to move on. The next stop is Cairns in Australia, so until then.
Well done Emmet. That's a pretty steep hill.
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