Traveling from Auckland to Wellington on Saturday was a breeze – we walked right through security and were actually never once asked to provide ID. After all of the crazy travel stories we have accumulated, our foursome was pretty shocked that no one cared to look at our passports! Safe to say domestic New Zealand travel has been pretty straightforward so far…
At check-in we realized our hotel had a huge gym, swimming pool and spa so we headed straight to the fitness center to take advantage of these newfound amenities. After a refreshing workout we got cleaned up and headed to Courtenay Place for a late meal. Given the hour, the scene was more bar-oriented than dinner-focused, but we stumbled across a quiet café still serving food: Big Dogs. While the service was pretty slow – especially given we were the only diners – we all really enjoyed our entrees and agreed that it “really hit the spot” (a favorite phrase of Judy’s).
Sunday morning we stopped at a nearby Starbucks (which will now be serving flat whites back in the States – check it out!) before taking the cable car from Lambton Quay up to Kelburn for views of Wellington.
View of Oriental Bay and downtown Wellington.
Once we got off the cable car we spent a few leisurely hours walking down the hill and exploring the Botanical Gardens.
Wellington is very hilly and we kept stopping to notice the beautiful homes nestled in the nearby trees.
View of the rose garden. We had a perfect day for taking a slow stroll through the park.
Alex stalked a bumblebee to capture this shot!
The path through the Botanical Gardens winds through The Bolton Street Memorial Park before ending in the city center. We hadn’t realized it was nearly 2pm so we walked quickly to Cuba Street in search of a lunch spot and quickly selected a cute café called Floriditas for delicious salads and pastrami sandwiches (I think my dad and Judy’s willingness to share meals has really worked in my favor with Alex recently).
After lunch we walked down Cuba Street and checked out some of the local shops before returning to the hotel for a rest (and another workout) before dinnertime. The sun was setting so we decided to grab a drink across the street by the waterfront.
Looking out across the bay.
Posing in shades of blue.
After enjoying a beverage outside we headed to Boulcott Street Bistro for dinner. Unfortunately, the restaurant had closed its kitchen for the evening so we walked to another nearby cafe I had heard about but they were only serving bar food! Tired and hungry we ended up eating at our hotel restaurant, Chameleon. While we did not plan to dine there, we were pleasantly surprised: the food was amazing and each dish was presented like a work of art.
Definitely the fanciest meal we have had while traveling!
Monday morning we packed up and headed over to the nearby Te Papa Museum for a few hours. The museum is beautifully designed and we enjoyed learning a bit more about New Zealand’s history and the people who live here.
The ceiling of Te Marae, the place of the Maori spiritual origins. This spiritual idea of Hawaiki means all people can regard the Marae as a place for them to stand ‒ a place to which they can belong.
The museum also has a rotating modern art exhibit so we checked out this piece by Bill Culbert. Not really my style but still cool to see.
After soaking up a little culture, we had a speedy lunch at The Crab Shack before catching our ferry to Blenheim, our next stop in New Zealand.