Feb 2 - An afternoon to myself!!

After the museum, we drove along the water’s edge. Wellington is built on hills that butt right up to the shore. Houses hang off the sides of the hills everywhere. Because many of these houses are not accessible by road, people have put in private cable car systems. That’s a good way to get your groceries up and your geriatric dog down. Ingenious.

We went up to the top of Mount Victoria which is 196 metres high. From there, we enjoyed panoramic views of the city. But boy, was it windy!!

We had the afternoon and evening to ourselves. I hoofed to the grocery store and got broccoli salad, a sandwich and some fruit salad for lunch, and yogurt with granola and coleslaw for dinner. After lunch Chez Hotel Room, I headed out. First stop, St. Mary of the Angels Church where I wanted to go to mass at 5:00 p.m. Once I knew where it was, I could then spend time exploring. Jenny and I went up a funicular to the top of another hill where I enjoyed more glorious views and learned a few more things about trams at the little tram museum.

I came back down the tram and walked along the waterfront which is full of shops and cafés and a big place that was celebrating the Chinese New Year. By then it was time to head to mass. It was really nice - we said some of the responses in Maori using the words projected on a screen. Very cool.

It was time to call it a day. Doug and I were able to video chat. He went to the military museum today (the one with the great stain glass in the lobby) and then discovered young men playing cricket on the nearby pitches. By the end of the match, he was their official manager. He now knows a lot more about cricket and he cadged dinner out of the guys too. The concierge at the hotel is working on finding rugby for him to watch. Tomorrow’s treat for him - watching the Super Bowl at noon. He’s still not 100%, but we’ve come to know that the last 10% recovery for him takes a long time.Read more