The Ultimate New Zealand Travel Guide
Wellington
After a quiet peaceful journey south from the Tongariro region we headed into the world again where cars and people dominate. Wellington, the capital city of the country. It is an easy drive into the heart of the city whether you are coming in via route one, as we were, or from the eastern side of the North Island on route 2. As you come around the bend and spot the harbour the city of Wellington is seen spreading along the edge and held within the confines of the mountains behind it. Stay in the left-hand lane until the Aotea Quay exit. The name of Aotea Quay changes to Waterloo Quay but is the same road. As you continue along it changes names again to Jervois Quay then splits into Cable Street. Stay on this road and you will come to Te Papa museum where you can park and across the road is the supermarket.
I caught up with Her Worship the Mayor of Wellington Celia Wade-Brown on her way to work on her bicycle the next day. She was kind enough to stop and give you all a big welcome to the city.
It is a bicycle and camper van friendly place thanks to the Mayor......
Check out the Wellington page
If you plan to stay in the city, as we did, when you get past the large stadium on the right (Westpac Stadium) as you enter the commercial area of the city you will then see the train station and post office on the right. To the left will be the Bluebridge ferry terminal and just past turn into the Wellington Waterfront Motorhome Park. Just couldn't be handier to explore the city from. We pulled in and were greeted with a friendly welcome and pointed to where we were to park.
I explained we would only be here overnight and planned to catch the Interislander ferry out first thing in the morning to the South Island. They provide toilets and showers here and it is quite comfortable. Since I had lived and worked here for eight years I had just planned to take David into the city and point out the highlights and not hang around. After all it was still raining and upon our return from the South Island later in the trip I was sure we would get a better day to film.
Wellington is a very easy city to walk and enjoy. After parking I got on the internet to check on our ferry tickets and came to a mental abrupt halt as it showed the ferry would not cross for three days due to the storm on the way. I then went to the weather station and saw what they were concerned with. This was not just another winter storm this was one of the biggies.............Oh darn!! (I may have been more verbally emphatic!!).
Oh well not a bad place to be stuck for a few days I thought so I grabbed David and we walked a few paces down the waterfront to a cafe I knew and appreciated in the past.
I then laid out our plan for seeing Wellington. Little did I know in a couple of hours we would be in full scale storm conditions as I have never seen or been a part of before except during a hurricane when I was sailing the Atlantic many years before. And it was of hurricane strength we came to discover later. Back in 1968 the ferry Wahine got caught and went over and the experts said this was even a worse storm............
The wind and rain came and we huddled in our van that felt like living inside a washing machine but even under the stress and chaos of the storm we were not harmed and no damage occurred. The night was alive with the sounds of police and fire sirens. The next morning the storm was still raging but had lessened a bit. We fixed coffee and breakfast and enjoyed our waterfront camper van location and the dry and warmth we had. It seems ten's of thousands suffered the loss of electricity and destruction to their homes and businesses in Wellington over these several days of storm conditions. We were very glad to be in the camper van.
When the rain slowed down we went wandering down along the waterfront where we were to visit the Maritime Museum (considered as in the top 50 in the world) and Te Papa Museum. Then over to my favourite street, Cuba Street, to stop for coffee at Fidel's and make arrangements at my favourite restaurant for dinner tonight if it had electricity. Steve Logan of Logan Brown said all was go so we made our reservations. This restaurant is without doubt tops and has won the awards to prove it. Don't miss it when you come to Wellington.
So for a couple of days we wandered around Wellington downtown and I pointed out the various cafes and bars I used to frequent plus pointed out the Beehive, our parliament building, and other government facilities. It wasn't a total loss anyhow and we enjoyed it better than most. Our camper van kept its integrity and never wavered until waking up the fourth morning and discovering the main electicity had been off for some time and the house batteries were flat then checking the van batteries and it wouldn't start.
check out my latest Wellington photos on facebook
I had planned to cross this afternoon at 2pm so did a kinda panic and called AA. They soon had us sorted and we headed for the Interislander ferry terminal about five minutes away located back the way we had come into town. I must say you cannot find easier access than what Wellington provides. Nothing is a bother driving the camper van here.
By the way the sun actually was finally trying to peak out. After getting the AA battery jump I thought we best drive around awhile to make sure the van would start when we got to the South Island. Checked with the ferry people and the 2pm ferry was full so we re-scheduled for the 6pm.
I took off north on route 2 to show David that part of New Zealand and get a chance to charge up.
We got back and checked in at 5:30 to discover the ferry would be two hours late so with the largest full moon ever coming up over the harbour we sat in our van enjoying the peaceful quiet spot and soon were ushered onto the South island ferry. It was almost empty. Have a great video to show you later. Got the van into the area we were directed to and off to the lounge for the 3 ½ hour ride in the dark. Hope to get to show David the beauty of the Marlborough Sounds when we cross back over...............
Here is a video I made showing what you will do for the ferry crossing. It is very easy and not to be feared. Right from here on the Wellinton Waterfront Motorhome Park you are but a few minutes from the ferry terminal. We used Interislander. Enjoy Wellington and the crossing.....
So without a problem crossing Cook Strait we ended up in Picton where I actually have been living the last few years. It was 11pm and we headed to the parking lot on the watefront and walked across the road to the Irish Pub for a beer to celebrate having finally made it with no real difficulty. Tomorrow was to be a full sunshine day............finally.
(to be continued as we travel the South Island
After a quiet peaceful journey south from the Tongariro region we headed into the world again where cars and people dominate. Wellington, the capital city of the country. It is an easy drive into the heart of the city whether you are coming in via route one, as we were, or from the eastern side of the North Island on route 2. As you come around the bend and spot the harbour the city of Wellington is seen spreading along the edge and held within the confines of the mountains behind it. Stay in the left-hand lane until the Aotea Quay exit. The name of Aotea Quay changes to Waterloo Quay but is the same road. As you continue along it changes names again to Jervois Quay then splits into Cable Street. Stay on this road and you will come to Te Papa museum where you can park and across the road is the supermarket.
I caught up with Her Worship the Mayor of Wellington Celia Wade-Brown on her way to work on her bicycle the next day. She was kind enough to stop and give you all a big welcome to the city.
It is a bicycle and camper van friendly place thanks to the Mayor......
Check out the Wellington page
If you plan to stay in the city, as we did, when you get past the large stadium on the right (Westpac Stadium) as you enter the commercial area of the city you will then see the train station and post office on the right. To the left will be the Bluebridge ferry terminal and just past turn into the Wellington Waterfront Motorhome Park. Just couldn't be handier to explore the city from. We pulled in and were greeted with a friendly welcome and pointed to where we were to park.
I explained we would only be here overnight and planned to catch the Interislander ferry out first thing in the morning to the South Island. They provide toilets and showers here and it is quite comfortable. Since I had lived and worked here for eight years I had just planned to take David into the city and point out the highlights and not hang around. After all it was still raining and upon our return from the South Island later in the trip I was sure we would get a better day to film.
Wellington is a very easy city to walk and enjoy. After parking I got on the internet to check on our ferry tickets and came to a mental abrupt halt as it showed the ferry would not cross for three days due to the storm on the way. I then went to the weather station and saw what they were concerned with. This was not just another winter storm this was one of the biggies.............Oh darn!! (I may have been more verbally emphatic!!).
Oh well not a bad place to be stuck for a few days I thought so I grabbed David and we walked a few paces down the waterfront to a cafe I knew and appreciated in the past.
I then laid out our plan for seeing Wellington. Little did I know in a couple of hours we would be in full scale storm conditions as I have never seen or been a part of before except during a hurricane when I was sailing the Atlantic many years before. And it was of hurricane strength we came to discover later. Back in 1968 the ferry Wahine got caught and went over and the experts said this was even a worse storm............
The wind and rain came and we huddled in our van that felt like living inside a washing machine but even under the stress and chaos of the storm we were not harmed and no damage occurred. The night was alive with the sounds of police and fire sirens. The next morning the storm was still raging but had lessened a bit. We fixed coffee and breakfast and enjoyed our waterfront camper van location and the dry and warmth we had. It seems ten's of thousands suffered the loss of electricity and destruction to their homes and businesses in Wellington over these several days of storm conditions. We were very glad to be in the camper van.
When the rain slowed down we went wandering down along the waterfront where we were to visit the Maritime Museum (considered as in the top 50 in the world) and Te Papa Museum. Then over to my favourite street, Cuba Street, to stop for coffee at Fidel's and make arrangements at my favourite restaurant for dinner tonight if it had electricity. Steve Logan of Logan Brown said all was go so we made our reservations. This restaurant is without doubt tops and has won the awards to prove it. Don't miss it when you come to Wellington.
So for a couple of days we wandered around Wellington downtown and I pointed out the various cafes and bars I used to frequent plus pointed out the Beehive, our parliament building, and other government facilities. It wasn't a total loss anyhow and we enjoyed it better than most. Our camper van kept its integrity and never wavered until waking up the fourth morning and discovering the main electicity had been off for some time and the house batteries were flat then checking the van batteries and it wouldn't start.
check out my latest Wellington photos on facebook
I had planned to cross this afternoon at 2pm so did a kinda panic and called AA. They soon had us sorted and we headed for the Interislander ferry terminal about five minutes away located back the way we had come into town. I must say you cannot find easier access than what Wellington provides. Nothing is a bother driving the camper van here.
By the way the sun actually was finally trying to peak out. After getting the AA battery jump I thought we best drive around awhile to make sure the van would start when we got to the South Island. Checked with the ferry people and the 2pm ferry was full so we re-scheduled for the 6pm.
I took off north on route 2 to show David that part of New Zealand and get a chance to charge up.
We got back and checked in at 5:30 to discover the ferry would be two hours late so with the largest full moon ever coming up over the harbour we sat in our van enjoying the peaceful quiet spot and soon were ushered onto the South island ferry. It was almost empty. Have a great video to show you later. Got the van into the area we were directed to and off to the lounge for the 3 ½ hour ride in the dark. Hope to get to show David the beauty of the Marlborough Sounds when we cross back over...............
Here is a video I made showing what you will do for the ferry crossing. It is very easy and not to be feared. Right from here on the Wellinton Waterfront Motorhome Park you are but a few minutes from the ferry terminal. We used Interislander. Enjoy Wellington and the crossing.....
So without a problem crossing Cook Strait we ended up in Picton where I actually have been living the last few years. It was 11pm and we headed to the parking lot on the watefront and walked across the road to the Irish Pub for a beer to celebrate having finally made it with no real difficulty. Tomorrow was to be a full sunshine day............finally.
(to be continued as we travel the South Island
Welcome video from Her Worship Celia Wade-Brown the Mayor of Wellington