Welly boots required for Welling – toon (see what I did there!)
21st July 2006
Now we all know that Geordies are a friendly bunch and Kiwi’s are hospitable….so if you put the two together what do you get?…..simple…. Sheila (Tom’s cousin) and Raymond!
We have been staying with Sheila and Raymond (in their beautiful home) during our stay in Wellington and have been made to feel very welcome. They are two of the friendliest and kindest people you could ever meet (and on top of all that Sheila is a fantastic cook…but more of that later!).
Sheila and Raymond live in Days Bay which is a fantastic little bay directly facing Wellington from where you can catch a 30 minute ferry across to the capital. The view from their lounge looks over the bay and stretches as far as Wellington.
On our first full day in Wellington Sheila and Raymond were our personal tour guides…taking us to vantage points on both sides of the bay to take in the scenery. In Wellington we headed up Mount Victoria which gives a 360 degree view of the surrounding area.
From there we travelled around the penninsula and back to the city. After a picnic lunch in the botanical gardens we took a cable car down into the main shopping district. We saw the largest wooden building in the southern hemisphere and saw the ‘beehive’. The beehive is used to house the administration of the NZ parliament.
From the beehive Sheila took us in to the parliament building to watch the house in session…unbelievable….no chance of this at home (unless formally invited of course). We had to pass through security needless to say but apart from the normal metallic scanners we walked straight in. We both thoroughly enjoyed watching the opposition put questions to the PM – Helen Clarke. It is exactly as you see on the television at home …..grown men and women shouting insults and sarcastic remarks across the house…….a little theatrical but nevertheless truly funny to watch.
We then left Sheila and Raymond to visit the Te Papa museum which is NZ’s national museum. Entry is free and all the exhibits involve some degree of interactive learning. Now you will recall that in an earlier blog we said we were not really museum people but nevertheless we managed to spend best part of 4 hours in the museum….in which time we have developed a better understanding of the country we are visiting.
Also in the museum are a couple of temporary exhibitions which you can pay to visit. At the moment The Lord of The Rings exhibition is being housed in Te Papa so having watched the movies but not visited any of the touristic sights in NZ we went along. The exhibition was very good and allowed us to see the costumes and props and the models used in the filming ….there was also a number of short clips explaining how certain scenes were filmed and certain effects achieved….. we can only imagine it is a true anoraks dream (Burnsy? – unfortunately no photos can be taken so we’ll bring you the ticket stub home!)
Unfortunately the weather whilst we have been in Wellington has not been great with constant rain (our fault for visiting mid-winter) but we have not let it dampen our spirits!
Now earlier I mentioned Sheila is a fantastic cook. Since arriving at their home Sheila has cooked us two roast dinners with all the trimmings and after each meal we have had two desserts…..and each morning we have had a fried breakfast….no wonder we stayed on an extra night!
Chris is currently munching his way through the dozen home-made muffins and dozen coconut cakes we have in van to keep us going over the next few days (with a little help from me of course!). We are now heading over to the south island, first stop Kaikora, north of Christchurch and some whale watching!
Tags: New Zealand, Wellington
Chris and Charl
Hi,
I am having trouble with my e-mail at the mo….will see what it is like tomorrow, but maybe i will have to communicate this way for awhile…
Love your photo’s and your blogs…
Keep having fun and take care..
LOVE and missing you
m xxxxx
Hi
Have been catching up this evening with your latest adventures, and really looking forward to seeing the Sky diving DVDs. What a fab time you are having. Glad you stayed with Sheila and Raymond they are lovely people, maybe one day Tom and I will make it out to see them. Sounds like they spoilt you with all the cooking and showing you around. Your ferry trip sounded very scary, glad you made it to the South side and hope you don’t get too cold in your camper van. About to have a look at your photos now, will be in touch soon
Take Care
Love K & Co
Hey Mam
Oh dear …no more salacious gossip for a while then….or rude jokes…rats!
Hope you get email back soon…..have sent you a couple of emails that I guess you havent got yet.
Happy Birthday to Maxwell for tomorrow!
Lots of love
Charl
Hi Karen!
Thanks for your message, would highly recomend getting out to see Shiela and Raymond, they have a great place!
We are in the South now, a little cold but nothing we can’t handle, still, off to Fiji in 3 weeks, then it is sunshine all the way till we get home!
Take care, love to everyone!