We went down for breakfast and it was a lovely sunny morning. I had the same as yesterday and Jon chose from the menu and had scrambled eggs with bacon - I think it was about three eggs and a half a pound of bacon!!!
Jon left for meeting and I packed the case and then left it at reception and set off to do more sightseeing.
I went to the National Archives as I wanted to see the Waitangi treaty which was formed in 1840. It is kept in a vault with dim lights and, I thought, was impressive and I was glad I went.
I then went to Old St Paul's church and that is a lovely old wooden church. They have a little gift shop in there and I chatted to the lady working there who was English but had been here for 30 or more years, she was very nice and I could have chatted on but I had a lot to see.
I then walked down onto the port and along the seafront and I have to say Wellington on a lovely day is something special. It is very small for the capital city but it has a very nice feel to it. It was too nice to sit in for coffee so I bought a take away and sat looking across the harbour. I saw a small naval ship docking and was able to get right down to it, all very relaxed and no security, unlike Portsmouth.
I then went into the Maritime Museum and saw the very moving video of the Waihine disaster which was in the great storm of 1968. The ferry was coming up from near Christchurch and struck the rocks just inside the harbour and due to the terrible winds could not get off and capsized killing 51 people of the 700+ passengers. There were many stories of brave men in little boast going out to help with the rescue, all very sad.
I then walked up to the main shopping area and the big department store called Kircaldies which is quite plush and has a lovely doorman, just like Harrods.
I decided to buy a sandwich and a drink and go up to the Botanical gardens on the cable car as it was just too nice to sit inside. I was really glad I did as the views were so much nice in the sunshine. I didn't have long enough to go to the observatory as the lady said you need at least 90 minutes so that will have to wait for the next trip.
On the way back I popped into the little chapel in the graveyard near our hotel to have a look and that was very interesting and told about the graveyard and how they had to move the bodies to build the motorway. It is unusual to have such a large graveyard in the middle of a city, I suppose it is a bit like Highgate cemetery in London.
Jon rang me to say he was waiting at the hotel so I went back and we collected our cases and took a taxi out to the airport and he took us the pretty way, all around the coast road.
We met a couple of Jon's colleagues in the Koru lounge and I had a nice glass of wine and some cheese and biscuits while waiting for the flight. I am amazed at how small the airport is for the capital and the only international flights that land there are from Oz. The flight was a bit bumpy taking off but on the whole not bad. The views over the mountains were not so good but coming in to land at Tauranga was very good and the landing was smooth even though it was as windy in
Tauranga as it was in Wellington!
We phoned the kennels as we were leaving the airport at 5.10 pm as they close at 5.30 and as Totty is going back in again on Friday we really wanted to get her out and we made it. She is very tired and slept as soon as she got home.
WEATHER
Lovely sunny day in Wellington. Windy when we got to Tauranga 18 degrees
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