Solo in Wellington....
Waikanae Station is where the train leaves for Wellington and lucky for me that Auntie works in the town 3 days a week. There is a bus I could get from Te Horo, but it's at odd times and of course added expense. Wednesday, the weather has much improved, partly cloudy with a chilly breeze and the forecast last night lead us all to believe today will be a dry one, I hope so.
$21 NZD for a day pass valid on all public transport around Wellington after 9am or $20 NZD for a return trip out of peak hours. The 9am train is waiting, filling up with Kiwi pensioners constantly yapping, excited about their day trip to the big city - please, give me a little peace ladies! An all rounder ticket I think because I have it in mind to get on the bus upto the Mount Victoria viewpoint for another breathtaking view of Wellington.
Bus 20 from the bus stand just a few meters from the train station. Having just missed the 10h01, an hour to kill and that's pretty easy here since the city is really quite small - small enough to get all the way to the far end and back by 11!. A stroll along the waterfront, observing the goings on of Wellingtons marine world. Its actually quiet here with the cargo side of things a little way out of the city. Here, its just a small ferry wharf, a handful of what was obviously cargo sheds, now the domain of high class cuisine by day, and no doubt shenanigans by night. Tourists with a few Dollars to burn can take a scenic helicopter ride around the harbour and nearby hills - about $95 for 6 minutes as I observed whilst getting that souvenir photo of the Helipro helicopter.
30 minutes by bus, right to the summit of Mount Victoria. Again, stunning views of the city and surrounds, difference today though is the planes - they are landing from over the harbour passing close to the viewpoint. That of course means some unique photos, and plenty of them as it seems quite busy all of sudden. Bus back is every 50 past the hour, so the 12h50 bus and that's really enough time up here on this cool, but bright and breezy day.
Getting off here at Courtney Place, the part of town where the food is fast and debauchery by night is the urban myth. Well, the food is fast - pizza, kebabs and sandwich bars selling pies, all commanding some serious dosh for a bite size snack! I can't find anything substantial for less than 4.50 UK pounds. I did find a starbucks, about 1.80 UK pounds for a meagre sized cup of Americano coffee - maybe I underestimated my budget for New Zealand! The public transport deal was pretty good though, enabling me to stay late enough to experience this debauchery - maybe another time!
Waikanae Station is where the train leaves for Wellington and lucky for me that Auntie works in the town 3 days a week. There is a bus I could get from Te Horo, but it's at odd times and of course added expense. Wednesday, the weather has much improved, partly cloudy with a chilly breeze and the forecast last night lead us all to believe today will be a dry one, I hope so.
$21 NZD for a day pass valid on all public transport around Wellington after 9am or $20 NZD for a return trip out of peak hours. The 9am train is waiting, filling up with Kiwi pensioners constantly yapping, excited about their day trip to the big city - please, give me a little peace ladies! An all rounder ticket I think because I have it in mind to get on the bus upto the Mount Victoria viewpoint for another breathtaking view of Wellington.
Bus 20 from the bus stand just a few meters from the train station. Having just missed the 10h01, an hour to kill and that's pretty easy here since the city is really quite small - small enough to get all the way to the far end and back by 11!. A stroll along the waterfront, observing the goings on of Wellingtons marine world. Its actually quiet here with the cargo side of things a little way out of the city. Here, its just a small ferry wharf, a handful of what was obviously cargo sheds, now the domain of high class cuisine by day, and no doubt shenanigans by night. Tourists with a few Dollars to burn can take a scenic helicopter ride around the harbour and nearby hills - about $95 for 6 minutes as I observed whilst getting that souvenir photo of the Helipro helicopter.
30 minutes by bus, right to the summit of Mount Victoria. Again, stunning views of the city and surrounds, difference today though is the planes - they are landing from over the harbour passing close to the viewpoint. That of course means some unique photos, and plenty of them as it seems quite busy all of sudden. Bus back is every 50 past the hour, so the 12h50 bus and that's really enough time up here on this cool, but bright and breezy day.
Getting off here at Courtney Place, the part of town where the food is fast and debauchery by night is the urban myth. Well, the food is fast - pizza, kebabs and sandwich bars selling pies, all commanding some serious dosh for a bite size snack! I can't find anything substantial for less than 4.50 UK pounds. I did find a starbucks, about 1.80 UK pounds for a meagre sized cup of Americano coffee - maybe I underestimated my budget for New Zealand! The public transport deal was pretty good though, enabling me to stay late enough to experience this debauchery - maybe another time!
