Howdy
I’m writing again (two entries in two weeks - pretty impressive, if I may say so myself!) to tell you about a trip to Wellington, New Zealand.
About a year ago I applied for a working holiday visa for New Zealand which had to be activated before the 20th of September 2008. I was initially planning to go from Cairns sometime in the middle of September, but because we are currently living in Mundubbera, Qld, only about 500 kms from a direct flight from Brisbane Airport, and because of school holidays in September here in OZ, I was able to get a flight for basically half the price going over on the 1st to the 7th of August.
The day before I was flying out Bart and I drove to Caboolture, Qld which is about half an hour’s drive from Brisbane Airport. There we stayed the night at relatives of Bonnie & Rudy, long time friends of Bart, who are also staying at the farm in Mundubbera.
In Wellington I was fortunate enough to be put up for my entire stay by my mate Andy, though at the time he was in Europe getting married. Very rude not to be home when I come to visit but thank you very much, Andy & Magda, for your hospitality and congratulations on tying the knot. While my generous hosts were away Louise, a good friend of theirs, was staying in their flat and looking after the place. She was very helpful and even took me to the airport very early in the morning of a work day when I was flying back. It was great getting to know you, Louise. You are a top Kiwi lass.
Wellington did not fail to live up to its reputation (Windy Wellington!) and apart from two nice days the weather was rather dismal with rain and cold gales. Despite the weather I could not pass up the chance to explore the place. It is a fairly small city and everything is pretty much within walking distance, though being so hilly, it is hard exercise for the calf muscles. I have not yet been to Los Angeles but I imagine that when it comes to being hilly, Wellington must be near the top of the scales and the Botanic Garden is definitely the steepest of the kind that I have ever visited.
After a couple of days of climbing the streets I decided to go on a couple of tours and give my tired legs a bit of rest. The best one of those was a tour of some of the sites where The Lord of the Rings was filmed. Helm’s Deep, Isengard and Rivendell were some of the filming sites I visited. Pretty cool experience that motivates one to watch the movies again. Another one of my favourite attractions was Karori Sanctuary. It is a massive park with a lot of more or less endangered bird species and I spotted quite a few impressive birdies through my binoculars.
On my return to OZ Bart picked me up at the airport and we are now back at the farm in Mundubbera working happily ever after.
The End
XXX
New Zealand