North Island, New Zealand

Wellington

Wellington is the capital of New Zealand and the starting point of our tour of the North Island.

We took an evening flight out of Brisbane. Because of flying time (3.5 hours) and time-zone difference (3 hours), we arrived at the airport after midnight and managed to get to the hotel well after 1am.

We were given a 16th (top) floor room at the hotel. We thought we were VIPs, but the wind throughout the night was quite something. Wellington is obviously not called the windy city for nothing! But we managed to sleep well regardless.

Heavy rain greeted us in the morning, forcing us to waste some precious time at the MacDonalds (we were to get the rental car and drove out of the city after lunch) before heading to the waterfront.

Te Papa Museum (right) was used by us as a rain shelter. Later, when it was apparent that rain had stopped, we went out again.

The Town Hall/Civic Square area.

All in all, a brief stop at Wellington. But the lunch we had there, at a Japanese restaurant called Kazu, was outstanding.