Where have all the fish gone?

Wendy and Ian had very kindly offered to take Olga and me on a nostalgic tour of Wellington, with Ian doing the driving while I was able to be a passenger for once. I set out from Waikanae at 8am, arriving at the Harlands at about 9.15am. There is such a huge contrast in traffic conditions between the Wellington city roads and those further out of town, beyond Porirua. The former are a total nightmare, exacerbated by speed bumps on major roads, tight roundabouts and an idealogical campaign to create wide,but barely-used bike lanes at the expense of lanes where cars could once drive. The result is a permanently grid-locked city - The Cars That Ate Wellington. By contrast, once you head northwards and and get beyond Porirua the roads are almost deserted. This even includes the suburban streets of Waikanae Beach. Even if you went driving in in Southeast Queensland at 2am you wouldn’t encounter such quiet roads. All of this is a roundabout way of saying that the frustrating last 20% of my trip into Wellington took as long as the first 80%.

By the time I arrived in Karori Wendy, Olga and Ian were packed, organised and ready to go. It was a fine day, and quite calm. and Wellington was looking at its very best. We started with a nostalgic visit to Island Bay via the permanently bleak and misnamed Happy Valley. The coast road by contrast was absolutely sparkling and the sea was calm. There are now a number of interesting shops to be seen on The Parade, with Island Bay having become quite the trendy suburb. Our family home, high up above Severn Street is invisible from the street, being totally hidden behind trees. This is surprising because we had a spectacular view over the suburb and out to the Baring Head lighthouse. It is unlikely that the current owners would be able to see any of this. Next stop on the Island Bay leg of the trip was the Empire Theatre which has a trendy cafe where the old foyer used to be. The old picture theatre holds many happy memories and it was good to stop there for a while and enjoy some nice coffee.

We then drove round the coast road to Lyall Bay, a scenic trip which I did hundreds of times by pushbike when I was at Rongotai College, - not that I appreciated it at the time. Wendy and Ian had booked a table for us at the Spruce Goose restaurant, close to the airport. This was by design, as Olga was booked to fly home at 4pm. This gave us time for a relaxing lunch before dropping Olga off in good time for her flight.

Next stop for the three of us was Seatoun Beach at one of Wendy and Ian’s favourite spots near the Wahine memorial. We spent a warm and pleasant hour or so admiring the harbour, wandering the nearby paths and ogling the nearby enclave of beautiful designer homes. We then took a leisurely drive further round the coast, going via Worser Bay, Scorching Bay and Balaena Bay to Oriental Bay where we stopped for ice-creams and a leisurely walk around.

I was keen to visit Moore Wilson, the fabulous food wholesalers, as I was keen to pick up some NZ confectionary to take home. Chocolate fish in particular, and the odd Buzz Bar or three were on my mental shopping list. Aside from it being an Aladdin’s cave of wonderful cheeses and other delicatessen items I used to be able to buy large packs of chocolate fish and other tempting goodies. The only chocolate fish they had were in 5kg packs, which was even beyond what I’d had in mind, so we left the place carrying only a few bars of Whittakers chocolate and a big bag of Jaffas for old time’s sake. (I have to confess, these are items which are available in Australia too). Wendy and Ian further indulged me with a visit to the supermarket while en route back to their place, but even there I couldn’t find what I really wanted.

After bidding my farewells to Wendy and Ian I next headed for the Karori Cemetery where I wanted to visit and inspect my parents’ grave. A few years ago I organised for it to be restored and this was the first time I’d been able to see it since then. I am well satisfied with the result.

I arrived back at Waikanae at around 8pm after a long but very satisfying day.Read more