Saturday 2 February 2008

Wellington





Here is a picture of the lovely B&B we finally managed to find outside of Wellington and the amazing view of the beach we had from our bedroom window....The other photos are from Wellington.


We attempted to call ahead and book accomodation in Wellington and were surprised to find that everywhere in the Lonely Planet was fully booked. Finally, one of the places told me they had four beds left, but that they were charging double the normal price because of the Rugby 7's happening in Wellington over the weekend.

Being the rugby ignorant American that I am, I had to ask here what that meant. The lady on the phone patiently explained that they were having a huge international tournament with rugby teams playing a version of rugby with seven people on each side (making it a faster moving game). Apparently, there was even an American team competing! New Zealand won the whole thing in the end with a close game against Samoa. The best part of it was the buzz in Wellington. Everyone dressed up in crazy costumes and people traveled to Wellington from all over the country to watch.

In the end, we found a lovely backpackers that was far more like a B&B in the nearby town of Plimmerton. Plimmerton was actually right on the coast and our B&B was just across the street from the beach. The owners were former teachers and the entire lodge was run very efficiently. It was called Moana Lodge. After the long drive, we went for a swim in the ocean and then headed into Wellington for the evening. There was a great commuter train that we took into town giving Alan a much needed break from driving. We wandered around the harbor area. Stephen and Alan found the Brewery Bar and Restaurant which served really nice food along with the Wellington Brewery beer.

On Friday, we drove up to Mount Victoria for a 360 degree view of the city and surrounding area. We visited the Beehive, the Parliament House and Parliamentary Library and enjoyed watching all of the rugby fans in their crazy outfits. I'm sure you can figure out from the pictures which building is the famous 'Beehive'. Wellington is a really nice city. It is also the home of Peter Jackson (director of 'The Fellowship of the Ring') and is sometimes referred to as Wellywood because of this.

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