Porirua

After waking up to a crappy morning of rain and fog and deciding it probably wasn't going to be fun or safe to do the Tongariro Crossing, we snoozed our alarm and headed back to sleep. Or at least Rob did... I couldn't get back to sleep and so listened to the rain for three hours. Eventually yet was time to leave though, we cancelled our second night due to continuing rain and were also informed that the coach to the walk had been cancelled that morning due to the weather, so we made the right choice to stay in bed. Pretty gutted though, Rob far more than me, as this means no views of Mordor 😔We have also decided to skip the Lonely Mountain, known in reality as Mt. Taranaki, which is literally the most perfect volcano you will probably ever see, just look it up as a picture or a map and you will see. The topographical maps are the best 😬

Anyhow we set off on our way to Wellington instead. The weather wasn't great and the roads weren't either. We drove along a mountain road that had various roadworks on it where it seemed the road had just fallen down the edge of the mountain side. The rain has been waaaay higher than any previous record this winter and equates to 7 meters since May!!😵😵 so it's not a surprise the cliff/mountain edges have been sliding off! Not great for driving though. We did however see several peacocks on our drive which was unusual, just roaming around like pheasants. The views again we great, even in the cloud. It is quite mountainous here and we were fairly high so had a nice view of the range. The fact they are mostly grass for grazing now also means every edge and hill on the mountain is obvious, not hidden by trees or scrub, and you can see how interesting all the lines and shapes are of the rock that lies beneath. Very cool.

The rest of the day was a bit boring, the scenery became much flatter as we neared the coast and apart from a lunch stop it was pretty much all driving. The lunch stop was nice though, a nice beach with small dunes where we got to feed lots of sparrows, including a particularly brave one that I managed to train to keep coming back to me... very cute.

Now it is late and we are in a strange campsite that is one of few around Wellington. It is pretty much a car park with little privacy, but cheaper than a hotel! Oh and after 50 minutes on the phone we have FINALLY managed to get our phone insurance approved! Taken way too much effort but so glad it is finally done!

Anyhow, it is sleep time now. Wellington in the morning!Leggi altro