WELLINGTON

FRIDAY, 25th, October.

It had to happen!  Nine days in NZ with dry weather and on the tenth.....rain!  When we left our B&B just out of Feilding at 9.30a.m., after an excellent breakfast and chat provided by our hostess Brenda, the sky was overcast but didn't look too threatening, but  as we drove through Palmerston North 20 minutes later, it was beginning to look ominous. 

After about an hour on the road,a  few raindrops landed on the windscreen and quickly developed into  steady rain.  It didn't last very long and then we were on the expressway to Wellington, getting off almost straight away at Otaki, to have a look at the beach.  Our initial plan was to visit a couple or three beaches on the way, but that plan was thrown out when the rain started again so instead we found a cafe in the town for coffee before rejoining the expressway.  For the rest of the way into Wellington, we had on/off rain, making visibility and concentration difficult for my chauffeur and was also tiring,

We drove into Wellington at about 12.30p.m. 

Although motel check in time is 2.00p.m. and we arrived at 12.45p.m., Mike used all his charm on the receptionist who allowed us to check in early.

The view from our window (on a clear day you can see the Harbour)

On discovering there is a guest laundry available in the motel, we quickly made good use of it so now we're all clean, for a few more days.

In the early evening, we walked around to Cuba Street, part of which is a pedestrian mall with many eating places from which to choose, had a beer each at Hey Day Brewery, which has many different types of beer, then strolled along the very popular street which is home to several old buildings.