Day 4-rainy Days And Mondays

Rainy Days and Mondays


Our last day on the North Island, we awoke to rain which continued all the way south to Wellington. Rain does not stop the intrepid photographer and the fact that we didn't have to drive was very helpful.


First stop was Te Mata Peak a beautiful vista over rolling, undulating hills filled with sheep. The sheep are fattening up for the winter, their coats starting to get full and fleecy. No matter where or when you travel, rain puts a damper on the day.    

The Green Green Grass of (their) Home

Sheep

We had hoped, even planned, to go to Cape Kidnappers to see the gannet colony, but had been misinformed as to their presence at this time of the year. We missed them by about a month. Not only that, but it would have been at least a half day's adventure, which was not booked into our schedule. If you plan a trip to NZ plan at least 3 weeks or don't do the North Island. It's not big, but there is a lot to see and no super highways in between places of interest.


Today is ANZAC day, a national holiday in NZ. Celebrates the Australia/NewZealand Army Corps which fought at Gallipoli (great movie, by the way, if you haven't seen it, do so, Mel Gibson notwithstanding, before his crazy days).


On to Mt Bruce where there is a Kiwi sanctuary. It seems Kiwis are losing the battle of existence. Only 10% of their eggs hatch and stay alive. They are really cute, little balls of fur with really long curved beaks. We saw a baby about 12 weeks old about to be weighed. So their are Kiwi birds, Kiwi fruit, and the natives are called Kiwis, cute, no?
Rained all the time we were traipsing throughout the Reserve, ugh!

Poor Nocturnal Kiwi - this was 3AM for this little guy

Then on to Wellington for an overnight before we hit the ferry to the South Island. It rained most of the way to Wellington, but we arrived about 4:30 to a beautiful hotel near the waterfront. Interesting side note: big hotels charge for Internet and usually not wireless while the small motels we had stayed in along the way did not. But once again the laundry is free.


Best thing about Wellington: No Guide - we are free till tomorrow at noon when we pick up our South Island guide. Went for a walk, had Italian food and came back. So goodnight to you all, we are up at 6 for the next leg.


Just to let you know the division of labor here. Patricia is the techie that sets up the blog and the postings are on her account. We share the writing one day Maddi writes and Pat edits and one day the reverse. Since the laptop is Maddi's this trip the photo credits are hers and in case you have any funny ideas they are all loaded into Lightroom and copyrighted. Happy Reading from the Happy Wanderers.


And another thing of note - this is a country of truly OPTIONAL tipping.  For the most part there is no tipping anywhere including restaurants - which is an odd feeling - but welcome - for us Americans.