We had a fabulous time on our 10 day road trip with my mom! She flew back home yesterday and it's already so quiet around here without her :) We drank so much wine and ate so much fabulous food I think I need a detox. But it was definitely all worth it. I'm so glad she was our first visitor in New Zealand and we were able to experience new things together.
Our first stop on our trip was to Wellington, which is the capital city of New Zealand. Unfortunately we arrived on Good Friday and all the shops and cafes were closed which was kind of a bummer, but we found other things to do. We loved the city itself and Tyler and I can't wait to go back for a long weekend to explore more. We took a red cable car up to the botanical gardens which offered great views of the downtown and harbour.

|
Unfortunately we had to drink Starbucks because it was the only thing that was open! |
The botanical gardens themselves were beautiful, we could have spent more time just in the park. There was a massive rose garden, herb garden, as well as greenhouses full of flowers. I will never tire of all the lush greenery in New Zealand, everything here is so pretty!
 |
A sculpture we found along the harbour... |
We then found ourselves at New Zealand's national art gallery and museum, Te Papa. With seven floors, we didn't come close to seeing everything. It definitely warrants a second visit the next time we find ourselves in Wellington. The coolest/grossest thing we found at the museum was a colossal squid which was around 4 metres long. It's eyes were the size of soccer balls!
 |
Preserved colossal squid |
 |
On the swing bridge outside of the museum. |
One full day in Wellington was not enough time, especially when a lot of things were closed for the holiday. But at least we have an excuse to go back! We were so fortunate with the weather our whole trip. Two days before we were supposed to leave on the ferry to cross over to the South Island there was a cyclone and all ferry trips were cancelled, which meant cancellations and delays for the following day. Everything was back on track and there was calm seas for our trip, thank goodness! Below is the ferry we took with capacity for 1600 passengers (and a few hundred vehicles). Since it was Easter weekend it was packed!! Even though there were "calm seas" the slight rocking of the boat was too much for me and I found myself outside for the entire 3 hour trip. But the weather was great and the views were amazing, so I didn't mind at all.
Next stop Nelson and Abel Tasman!
No comments:
Post a Comment