A few days leave (part two)

Wellington - (for those of our blog followers who don't already know), is situated more or less on the southern end of the North Island and is the capital of New Zealand. This is the place where you would head if you had serious battles to fight with those 'what are in charge' in the country. More often than most of the members of parliament would like to have to endure, there will be groups of unhappy people either picketing or camping (or both), outside the parliament buildings and we, the happy few, get to see them on the six o'clock news - all grubby and smelly and fired up with their particular grievance, raging on about who owns the water in the country or some such nonsense!

We were delighted to be greeted by a glorious Spring day and headed from our campsite at Paekakariki to Wellington for the day. The big museum is in the city, but having already visited there not so long ago, we decided to find the cable tram and do the 'tourist' thing - taking a ride up to the top and enjoying the view of the city while sipping a flat white.

 Our 'older' blog followers will recall that a 'flat white' is an 'ornary' coffee (as opposed to a tall black which has nothing to do with an over six foot zulu)
The tram was clearly marked on the street map - but is positioned in amongst the buildings, so one has to really know where you are going in order to find it. Needless to say, in the city, parking is at an absolute premium, so we parked many, many blocks away and wandered back through the busy lunchtime office folks who were all about, purposefully headed for their favourite coffee shop or back to the grindstone. The long, leather goblin shoes (minus the bells) are still in evidence for the business gentleman, along with a pin-striped suit and it seems that the ladies who care about how they look (not the "bunch of hobbits who don't know how to dress" of Paul Henry fame) are in pencil skirts and business jackets with frilly, white or pastel shade blouses. All rather 'the same' and somewhat boring. Many of the skirts being a tad too tight and the jackets a tad too short for the size of the derriere!

The tram runs every ten minutes and so there is never too long a wait. We noticed quite a few students about and once on the uphill track, realised there is a stop about halfway up, which is convenient for the students to access part of the university - many got off there, books and files in their shoulder bags and I-pod earphones firmly in their ears. Many, fascinated and glued to their mobile phones and most with the regulation labelled clothing - which no doubt costs a fortune but looks like something the dog trailed in!

Wellington is a lovely city on a lovely day, but has a reputation for lots of wind and being New Zealand, plenty of wet, rainy days - great for a visit, with all the attractions that one finds in a city, but none of the little town feeling that we have where we live. So for now, our adventure will continue to be based in Wanganui.

Dis al!