May Old Acquaintances Be Reunited

Five years ago, when we first went to South Africa, we met this woman on one of our multiple day tours. She was traveling with the daughter of her good friends. We were a captive audience for hours on end, but enjoyed each others’ company immensely, so we exchanged e-mails. She was originally from South Africa, but had moved to New Zealand years prior. As many of those exchanges go, we e-mailed sporadically over the years and then lost touch. Coincidentally, when we first arrived here, I found a Christmas greeting from Margosia. I responded sharing that we were in country if there were any chance of getting together. She lives in Wellington, but was going to be in Auckland when we where there. Hoping to another chance, we looked for a chance at the end of the trip. As luck would have it, she is housesitting for her sister in Devonport, a suburb of Auckland, so dinner was possible.

Using our past knowledge of the city, we bought a Discovery Pass allowing us unlimited transport on all city buses with the bonus of free ferry transport to Devonport. Perfect! We rode the link bus circling the city, using it as a hop-on hop-off bus, stopping in neighborhoods that looked appealing. This makes for a real conundrum, though. Why would we want to stop in appealing neighborhoods, read here – good shopping, when we are restricted with the luggage? 

This makes me curious how merchants who are dependent on tourism are getting by? Do tourists buy less knowing they may potentially have to pay extra fees at the airport? Even the vast number of cruise passengers will need to fly somewhere once reaching the home port again. I have to admit, it has curbed my spending a great deal. As expensive as the books are here, there have been a couple on sale by authors I follow, so would snap them up in a second, but then the airline agent appears in front of my face saying “That will be $75 for Air NZ, but we don’t know if Lufthansa is going to charge you more for the rest of your trip.” Codesharing is great when the airlines cooperate, but they should all have to agree on luggage limits. It is schizophrenic for everyone to have their own rules when they are shifting luggage from one airline to another. So I send my regrets to the booksellers who did not get my cash as well as to the souvenir stores where I did not buy the impulsive trinkets. Complain to the airlines. It is their fault. It was my intent to be a good shopper. 

One of our stops was for a Burger Fuel lunch. Burger Fuel is a chain where they serve the best hamburgers I have ever tasted. With strange combinations, you can also get sweet potatoes French fried. What a treat it was. After lunch, we found the War Memorial Museum, but only made it into the lobby. They wanted $10 p/p entry. There was nothing showing to entice us to pay it; it seemed it may have been repetitive of Te Papa in Wellington. 

The ferry ride to Devonport was only a half hour and included on our pass. It was a delightful ride, but Devonport itself is charming. A lovely beach rings the edge; a shell collectors’ delight, so I had to restrain myself yet again or I would have stuffed a suitcase.  Close to 7pm, the stores were still greeting the last minute tourists hoping they will temporarily forget arrogant airline regulations. We met with Margosia going for drinks at one restaurant. Later we moved on to another restaurant where she had heard they had a good reputation. The evening was delightful due to the company and the food. Reuniting with someone you have shared some brief memories and experiences with is a little bonus gift of traveling.

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I just posted pictures for these two albums. Read the stories here, see the pictures there.

I just posted pictures for these two albums. Read the stories here, see the pictures there.

Ferry to Train Wellington to Kaikoura, New Zealand

Kaikoura, New Zealand

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Wellington Pictures

If you have missed out, most of all of our travel pictures are posted here.  The latest are the pictures from Wellington, New Zealand.

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Nun of That Nunsense

There is something about a nun riding a segway that arouses ones curiosity, and that is exactly what happened with me. The City and Sea Museum here in Wellington used the painting of a nun on a segway to advertise their current special exhibit. When we left Rotorua, the taxi driver told us to make sure we went to the 3rd floor video presentation at The City and Sea Museum, but would not tell us more than it would surprise and entertain us. This really made me curious, so we had to go. It sits on the waterfront; we walked there, a considerable distance, but the best way to view the city when you are not familiar with the transportation system.

As one enters this museum, there is a display of 100 years, each year providing an achievement in the city’s history. Some were memorable by tourist standards, while others were local knowledge/interest only. Either way, one hundred exhibits to get through it is tiring regardless. By fifty, we skipped out and moved on to the temporary exhibit with the art work. There was an explanation of each piece is a special booklet. I took it along and read each piece as I viewed the fifty plus pieces individually. It was the nun on the segway that intrigued me most. Perhaps it is because they have segway tours in Budapest and I have been invited to try it, but have yet to do so. They do look like fun.

As the name of the museum intimates, it is about the city and the sea around it. Not being a person interested in sea culture, most of it was zip past through without paying much attention. There was a documentary movie on a ferry that never made it from the north to south island, which we did watch intently. We were taking that ferry crossing ourselves. Finally, when I  had had enough, we went to the top floor to see this video we had been advised not to miss. It was worth the efforts. Using holograms, they did a presentation of a Maori mythological story that lasted for 9 minutes. It was quite well done and highly entertaining as well as educational. Strangely, there were only adults in the audience, but this is not a museum one would think to bring children to.

Outside there was a shiny red helicopter ready to give rides. My fantasy for decades has been to take a helicopter ride. As fearful as I am of heights, there is something about a helicopter that gives me chills in a positive way. This is on my bucket list for before I die, but it was not to be today.

We still had a number of things to do, the next being the Botanical Gardens. To reach it, we took the Wellington cable car, a major tourist attraction. However, after living near San Francisco and now living in Budapest, this is not such a thrill. What they call a cable car, I would call a funicular or a cogwheel system. It was fun, more so because of the excitement of others than the ride itself. Once at the top, we were loose in the botanical gardens to do as we pleased. It is a public garden with no closing hours, so we could stay as long as we chose. Up and down like San Francisco hills we walked looking at flowers, trees and beautifully appointed gardens. Being a holiday, many of the buildings within the gardens either closed early or where closed for the day.

Leaving the gardens, Ron wanted to see the bee hive. This is actually a parliamentary building, but it strongly resembles a bee hive. As we walked, it was apparent that this was a holiday. Strangely, most places received holidays for both Monday and Tuesday after Christmas because both Christmas and Boxing day landed on weekend days. Now with New Years they are closing early for the eve and will be closed for the day itself. It is yet to be seen if they will close for the following Monday to make up for losing a weekend holiday or not.

Like moths to a flame, we returned to Cuba Street for a beer at the Hotel Bristol. We debated having dinner there, but we enjoyed the food at the Asian place last night and it was so cheap, we decided to return there again. We were not disappointed. Dinner again was excellent.

Just out of curiosity, when we stopped for something to go without our after dinner tea, we asked how much cigarettes were selling for here. We were told they are $NZ 14.90 a pack, one box. OH MY GODS IN THE UNIVERSE. How do these young people afford it????

Was New Year’s Eve in Wellington fabulous? Don’t ask me. We were asleep by 11pm. Early morning tomorrow. If you find out it was exciting, don’t tell me about it. I hate missing out on things.

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A Broken Record

Well isn’t this special! John our ‘host’ is showing his colors, deformity or not, it is not the way to run a hospitality business. When we went up for breakfast, a loosely defined term here, breakfast includes a choice of Wheatbix or muesli, a choice of toast or no toast, a glass of juice and instant coffee or tea. On the table was jam and peanut butter. I saved myself for going out and finding real coffee. However, this is where it gets hairy.

Another couple came in to the breakfast room, where the sole computer sits for guests to use. The husband was not able to connect to the WiFi, a common complaint it seems. He went to use the computer, but John shouts from the kitchen, “The computer is not to be used during breakfast. There are twenty-two hours in the rest of the day it can be used, but not during the two hours of breakfast.” What the hell difference does it make? Are the tapping on the keys going to upset someone’s crunching on their muesli? Will the distraction cause them to not savor the flavor of the plain white bread toast? But, it gets better still…

The next couple to enter the breakfast room has apparently used his laundry facilities. In a loud voice he asks them what they had forgotten in their pockets and who was responsible for the remnants of white fluff recycled paper goods that are now decorating the downstairs hallway like an aberrant snowstorm that ran amuck.

When yet another couple dares to enter the room at 8:45am, he announces “You had better eat fast, you only have fifteen minutes to finish breakfast before it is over.” OMG, OMG, what insanity is this in running a bed and breakfast like this? Our first night, we had not even been to our room yet, when John shared that an Israeli woman gave him a rating of a 2 out of 10 on some travel site “just because she could not get her computer to connect to the WiFi.” I think it is more than that now that we have had time to observe the happenings.

Needless to say, we were out early, too early as a matter of fact, because the museum we wanted to start with, Te Papa Tongarewa, the Museum of New Zealand, did not open until 10am. There was a coffee “Shag Shed” that was the name of it, honest. It was right next door. I gave thanks to the caffeine gods for sharing their java beans.

Well we beat our own personal records for staying in a museum. Entering at the 10am opening, took the guided tour at 10:15am with our docent Norrie. Norrie brought us to the high points, giving us history and background, but just enough to make us panting for more, which of course made us return to each area to read, see, and absorb all the information there was. The tour lasted for one hour, so he requested that we don’t slow the group down by taking pictures just then, but to return after the tour to take as many as we wished. After a delightful hour, we were on our own to explore. Probably equal time was given to reading, viewing, and taking pictures, but being a multisensory museum, there were a number of short films, usually documentary, about one topic or another.

We did not leave the building until 5:45pm. Our lunch was in the cafeteria, so we had a twenty minute lunch break, but all the rest of the day was going through the exhibits reading just about everything. Entrance to the museum is free, but the tour cost us NZ$12.00 each. It was money well spent. The only way to describe the museum is a combination of ethnographic and natural sciences. For children or curious adults, there are four Discovery Zones where learning activities centered on a particular area are in abundance. With the sun setting close to 9pm, there was still plenty of sunlight for a daily dose of vitamin D.

From the museum, we walked extensively covering a good part of the city. Limited time, a holiday, and a list of ‘want to see’ things made our time feel tight, prompting us to cram more in than usual. The public transport is not great, only buses, but there are no good maps showing thr routes either. After looking at the map to see what distance we covered today, it was close to 6 miles by the end of the day, but that doesn’t take into consideration the miles we walked in the museum itself. Dinner was at an Asian restaurant on Cuba Street after having a beer at the Hotel Bristol. From the outside, the hotel doesn’t look like much, but being on the heavily trafficked Cuba Street, we wandered in. Inside, it was booming with people drinking, but mostly people eating dinner. Cuba Street is about a six block long pedestrian street. It is only by accident that it is as such. At one point, the city had to close it to traffic to do repairs to the pipes under the street. The merchants discovered that they garnered more clients when there was no auto traffic, prompting them to petition the city to maintain the car-free zone. They did and it continues to be a high traffic area for pedestrians only.

By the time we meandered back, we were too exhausted to walk, so found a bus that would aid us in by-passing the majority of the hills on the way to our B and B. With a bus stop two blocks beyond where we need to get off, we walk back, but downhill. It was 9:30pm, so we just had enough energy for a movie in bed; we watched All the Queen’s Men.       

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Well, It Is Now Off to Wellington

Moving day again! We are leaving Napier today for Wellington on a 1:30pm bus. We have the morning to roam the city, so we spend an hour or so in the public library. For a small city, the library is well stocked with all of the ingredients one would expect from a library: books, magazines, DVDS, books on tape and more. Just as impressive are the numbers of people utilizing the services. There was one elderly lady who had her cane with her, but did not need it due to the library providing little shopping carts to carry the books to the check-out counter. She had 8 books in her cart and was still pulling off of the shelves. From the looks of her, it was questionable which would expire first, her or the due date of her books. I hope she has a codicil in her will to get those books back to where they belong. As they say “Good on her.”

We could not leave town without one last cup of java from our Glory coffee shop. We sat around and read the paper there absorbing the information about the storm that just peeked in at Napier but gave a full showing elsewhere. Then it was back to the hostel to collect our things.

While here, we came across a luggage sale. I have been wanting to replace my carry-on bag for some time; the zippers are getting temperamental. They had one about the same size on sale for $NZ64 with a 7 year guarantee. The saleslady assured me I would not need to return to Napier to make good on the guarantee if the need arose, so I bought it. Being a sentimental fool, I had difficulty parting with my old bag. It has served me well for seventeen years and is part of a set Ron and I bought our first year together. Sentiment has taken over; it is traveling with us still.

Our bus ride today is 5 1//2 hours. The bus was overbooked, so we had to wait for a second bus to arrive, which was fortunate. There were only six of us on it initially, though we did fill up and drop off plenty of others along the way. After 3 hours, we had to change buses completely. This shed a load off, but even better, the new bus was a double decker with plenty of room. Best of all, it had a bathroom.

Once more the scenery was spectacular. What occurred to me is that the roads are not oversized highways where highway hypnosis is a concern for drivers and passengers alike. The highways run through towns as well as wide open spaces, giving a full range of things to stimulate your senses. Trying to think of the colors of green I saw, this is the list thus far: green apple, lime green, avocado green, lemon-lime green (can you guess I did not have lunch?), forest green, emerald green, bluish green, mint green, and others that I cannot think of names to describe at the moment.

Traveling on a number of roads cut through mountains, there were these chicken wire type fences holding the rocks in place with steel girders. The way they protruded, the thought came that these were for sure over the shoulder boulder holders, a slang term used for bras or as Ron said the male version would be a rock strap (instead of a jock strap).

Our final destination was the Wellington railroad and bus station. From here we took a taxi to our bed and breakfast. As we made our way through the city, we could not help but notice how hilly the city is. Our driver kept saying what an ideal location we were in. It is only ten minutes to this and that from where we are staying. In the neighborhood of our bed and breakfast, the buildings remind us a great deal of San Francisco. The hilly streets add to this nostalgia. What the taxi driver failed to tell us is that we are ten minutes away from things if we were on a skateboard or had wings. By foot, it is a whole lot longer. Walk a block, use the respirator, walk another block, use the respirator again. These hills will be the death of me or the great fortune of taxi drivers.

This bed and breakfast is run by a man whose home as well as he himself was burned in a fire. His house has been rebuilt; his face is still a work in progress. His marketing makes it clear that he looks like the beast without the beauty. The social worker in Ron came out pushing him to book us here. It is quite shocking at first, but a friendly fellow he is without a doubt. Our room has room, which is quite an oddity thus far, this trip.

From the taxi window on the way to our B and B, we passed a Welsh bar. In the name of all of our Welsh friends, we felt a need to stop in for a pint. Martha and all of your descendents, we hope you recognize the sacrifice. It did make me want to return to Wales for a future get-away. Wandering around, we could not decide on a dinner spot, until we finally discovered Two Souls Bistro. What an excellent choice it was. Quiet, lovely surroundings, service that was superior, and the food was top par. It was a fabulous evening made better by finding a bus that passes our hillside B and B allowing us to travel beyond it causing us to walk downward to reach it. Life is good.  

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New Year's Eve - Big Whoop!

There is something about a nun riding a segway that arouses ones curiosity, and that is exactly what happened with me. The City and Sea Museum here in Wellington used the painting of a nun on a segway to advertise their current special exhibit. When we left Rotorua, the taxi driver told us to make sure we went to the 3rd floor video presentation at The City and Sea Museum, but would not tell us more than it would surprise and entertain us. This really made me curious, so we had to go. It sits on the waterfront; we walked there, a considerable distance, but the best way to view the city when you are not familiar with the transportation system.

As one enters this museum, there is a display of 100 years, each year providing an achievement in the city’s history. Some were memorable by tourist standards, while others were local knowledge/interest only. Either way, one hundred exhibits to get through it is tiring regardless. By fifty, we skipped out and moved on to the temporary exhibit with the art work. There was an explanation of each piece is a special booklet. I took it along and read each piece as I viewed the fifty plus pieces individually. It was the nun on the segway that intrigued me most. Perhaps because they have segway tours in Budapest and I have been invited to try it, but have yet to do so. The do look like fun.

As the name of the museum intimates, it is about the city and the sea around it. Not being a person interested in sea culture, most of it was zip past through without paying much attention. There was a documentary movie on a ferry that never made it from the north to south island, which we did watch intently. We were taking that ferry crossing ourselves. Finally, when I  had had enough, we went to the top floor to see this video we had been advised not to miss. It was worth the efforts. Using holograms, they did a presentation of a Maori mythological story that lasted for 9 minutes. It was quite well done and highly entertaining as well as educational. Strangely, there were only adults in the audience, but this is not a museum one would think to bring children to.

Outside there was a shiny red helicopter ready to give rides. My fantasy for decades has been to take a helicopter ride. As fearful as I am of heights, there is something about a helicopter that gives me chills in a positive way. This is on my bucket list for before I die, but it was not to be today.

We still had a number of things to do, the next being the Botanical Gardens. To reach it, we took the Wellington cable car, a major tourist attraction. However, after living near San Francisco and now living in Budapest, this is not such a thrill. What they call a cable car, I would call a funicular or a cogwheel system. It was fun, more so because of the excitement of others than the ride itself. Once at the top, we were loose in the botanical gardens to do as we pleased. It is a public garden with no closing hours, so we could stay as long as we chose. Up and down like San Francisco hills we walked looking at flowers, trees and beautifully appointed gardens. Being a holiday, many of the buildings within the gardens either closed early or where closed for the day.

Leaving the gardens, Ron wanted to see the bee hive. This is actually a parliamentary building, but it strongly resembles a bee hive. As we walked, it was apparent that this was a holiday. Strangely, most places received holidays for both Monday and Tuesday after Christmas because both Christmas and Boxing day landed on weekend days. Now with New Years they are closing early for the eve and will be closed for the day itself. It is yet to be seen if they will close for the following Monday to make up for losing a weekend holiday or not.

Like moths to a flame, we returned to Cuba Street for a beer at the Hotel Bristol. We debated having dinner there, but we enjoyed the food at the Asian place last night and it was so cheap, we decided to return there again. We were not disappointed. Dinner again was excellent.

Just out of curiosity, when we stopped for something to go without our after dinner tea, we asked how much cigarettes were selling for here. We were told they are $NZ 14.90 a pack, one box. OH MY GODS IN THE UNIVERSE. How do these young people afford it????

So what did we do for New Year's Eve? Watched a movie and went to bed by 11pm. Talk about being dull. There were two reasons for this. One, we did not hear of anything fun to do in the city that did not require we shave forty years off of our ages and second, we have a very early morning to get the ferry to the south island. Basically, NYE is a boring holiday.

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