Wellington on Wheels!

For the previous day and a half, we had seen so much of Wellington on foot, so decided that today, we’d take a drive to see more of this lovely town. We started out by heading up a winding road to Mount Victoria Lookout, and at the top, were treated to amazing 360 degree views of Wellington. There were a few informational signs at the lookout, and one of interest showed an map indicating that the next stop directly south of where we were standing, was Antarctica! We drove on to Shark Bay where we stopped for a while to watch planes taking off, as it was right at the end of the airport runway - right across from us on a hill, was an interesting Wellington sign, depicting the reputation of being a Windy City! Next we drove around Point Halswell on our way to a pretty seaside town called Scorching Bay. There was a cute cafe there with shell murals on two of the walls to one side. Really nice beach in this bay too, with lots of families and sun worshippers taking advantage of the sunny day.

We continued along the coast road to Breaker Bay and then on to Moa Point, where the other end of the airport runway starts right at the edge of the ocean. Interestingly, the runway has a road and tunnel going right underneath it! We got out of the car and decided to wait for a plane to come in for landing, and minutes later, were in luck as one flew in from Fiji. It was so close, you could almost see the people inside the plane - so I waved just in case they could see me! We kept going along the coast for a bit longer, then decided to head inland through some pretty towns on the way back to our hotel. We got back then decided to go down to the waterfront and check out the Wellington Museum, a much smaller place than the New Zealand Museum we were at yesterday, but very interesting, as well as interactive. We learned a lot about the history of Wellington, including a 100 year dateline of how the city has evolved and changed over the years. There was a nautical area with a few photo opps (😉), and the history of the Māoris in Wellington. Out for a quick dinner then back to our hotel to rest up for tomorrow’s road trip to Napier - and wine country!!Read more