Victoria University

Wednesday 2nd November Daily Mileage 372
Cumulative Mileage 1,004

So sad to say bye bye to Wendy and Peter, they have been wonderful hosts and even gave us a typewritten sheet of ideas for stops on the journey to Wellington. Special people.
We have a long old drive ahead of us today, so after one of Peter’s ‘specials’ for which he is renowned which consists of a full English fry up beautifully finished off with parsley and black pepper, Peter and Janet were ready for the road. I kept to my usual fruit, muesli and yoghurt which agrees with me much better than a fry up. We broke the journey by stopping at Pukaha, a bird conservation place in Mount Bruce. They do a lot of work creating habit for, amongst other birds, kiwi’s and we thought this was our best chance of seeing them. They have the only white kiwi in the world, it is not an albino, but both parents had the recessive white gene which produced a white chick. World media went wild when she was born in 2011 and there was extensive coverage on the news. As they are nocturnal birds they were inside in a large night light enclosure. We were very lucky and saw both birds, they are not always seen so we did feel privileged. The white hen kiwi was nearly twice the size of her brown mate and at one point was chasing him around the enclosure pecking and jumping on him. They were both letting out shrill cries and did not sound very happy. Must have been having a domestic!! Apart from birds there were also some very large eels in a river that ran through the reserve. Peter was keen to go to see them fed so we headed off in that direction. When the staff who were doing the talk asked if anyone would like to feed the eels his hand shot up. There was a short plank suspended above the water which he stood on. The food was in a large plastic bucket, he scooped it up onto a long handled flat ladle and balancing on the plank of wood leant out over the river and offered the ladle low on the surface of the water to the eels. Janet and I were stood on the path on the bank of the river and could see the writhing, seething mass of eels waiting in anticipation for food. They were huge eels, the biggest were at least 6’ long with a thick girth as well! The food comprised of kitchen scraps, a couple of eggs and a mouse that had been caught in a trap somewhere all mixed up in a mash. The eels seemed to love it and were sucking the spoon to get the food. Peter loved it, he said it made his day.

Making our way to the café, we saw some Kaka parrots sitting on the backs of chairs on the veranda. They are a large brown and green parrot with a red breast who indigenous to New Zealand. Creeping onto the veranda we managed to get a couple of photos before they flew off when some noisy children came out. We had a tea and cake in their shop then, feeling much refreshed hopped back into the car and pressed on to Wellington. The road took us over some high mountains, the road twisting and turning steeply as it wound up the sides. There were passing places which offered motorists the opportunity to pass the large double trailer articulated lorries that also used the route. Peter let cars behind us know his intention to overtake by putting on the windscreen wipers and pulling out. Fortunately none were so close for it to be a problem, but it made Janet and I laugh every time he did it. We also saw lots of police speed traps and as in the UK drivers coming towards us flashed their lights to warn us of the trap. Peter responded by squirting the windscreen washers and giving the thumbs up – more laughter from us all.

Upon our arrival in Wellington we saw a familiar sight moored in the port – the Sea Princess, she must have sailed from Napier around the coast overnight to Wellington.

We were making our way to our accommodation when we went round a corner and whoooaa, found ourselves at the top of the steepest hill I have seen and a very steep gradient too. It was like being at the top of a big dipper rollercoaster. Gulping we started down the hill, discovering that our B&B was halfway down! We pulled over, making sure the handbrake was securely on and unloaded the car. Peter then took it back to Thrifty rental depot. We don’t have a car in Wellington and will be catching the ferry to the South Island afterwards where we will pick up a new car. Our new hosts, Ann and Dartrey Lamb are very pleasant and recommended a pub in the town for a meal. We got caught in a heavy shower on the way back and ended up rather wet.Read more