Well we finally made it to the bottom of the North Island and our last stop before the South Island, Wellington. As we drove into the city it was like a breath of fresh air to be somewhere with more going on. Its been nice to visit the smaller towns but we were ready to be active again. Lucky for us we found the only place in the city with tent sites which was the back garden of a hostel, otherwise we would have had to drive in each day. Our good location made it easy for us to see all the sights of Wellington. From using our good old guide book, which has been well worth the money, we made a list of things to do. We managed to do them all and even managed to learn something. We had a pretty culture filled 3 days here mainly spent in the museum of New Zealand, Te Papa. We had been told that we must pay this a visit as its one of the most popular museums in New Zealand.

Whilst we were in Wellington it was bank holiday , technically known as Waitangi day and randomly for us on a tuesday. We took the time to learn what the holiday was all about as it was important to New Zealanders. We won't try and explain though as its quite complicated! The treaty of Waitangi is also an important part of the maori culture and we were able to watch some traditional maori shows. On our list of things to do was climb to the lookout point on Mount Victoria. Now Lynz had read that it was 196m up so she thought i'll give it a go. Well after about 500m we realised that it must of indicated the height of the mountain but it was a bit late to turn back. It was a hard slog especially in the blazing sun but we made it, Lynz with more difficulty than Lee. We were glad we did though, have a look at our photos and you'll see why. After all that exercise Lee was dying for a pint and we even managed to get one however New Zealands idea of a pint and Englands aren't quite the same! It was more like a half, nevermind it was only a pound. As with all the places we've visited in New Zealand we've had such good weather. It is summer here but its been especially hot some days getting up to the thirties!

Wellington was different from other capital cities we've been too, it had the ususal skyscrapers but also a lovely harbour and beachfront, which was taken full advantage of in the hot weather. We finished our three days with a trip up another hill, this time with a little less effort, on a cable car. We are catching the ferry tomorrow which will take us to the south island.