Getting to know the capital

Thanks to Uncle Roger's car and a quick flick through the guide book, we have managed to make a few outings in the area. The weather has been spectacular .... the locals are rapidly turning sunburn red (they don't appear to have any tradition of sun cream in this area) and one can really feel how intensely the sun shines (ozone hole is quite a problem).

Our best outing took us through town to Oriental Bay and then on to the Miramar peninsular which was really stunning. Fantastic views of the Wellington Harbour and the Cook Straits and really very pretty homes (a mix of quaint traditional and modern designer). The penguins were probably hiding in the water from the heat of the day.

We took the treacherous route over the hills to visit Roger and Wendy in Masterton, driving past (part of) "Helms Deep" on the way, and enjoyed a restful day in their garden and a good night's sleep.

One of Dad's aims of the first week was to get to see part of the 2nd Test Match (5 day cricket match) between the Black Caps (New Zealand) and Sri Lanka. Delphine and Helen spent a few hours in the busy pre Christmas shopping streets of downtown Wellington while Mattéo, Juliette and Dad enjoyed a few hours at the Basin Reserve where we saw Sri Lanka lose 4 quick wickets between Lunch and Tea and, I thought, some top class bowling and fielding.

We were all spoilt rotten by our hosts in Wellington and Masterton and we set out to Whitereia Beach (North of Wellington) to try out one of Mattéo's best gifts - the all important cricket set (thanks Helen!) ... and he did very well. With some lovely views of the South Island from the clifftops we walked Gemma (Helen's dog) to exhaustion and headed home to prepare for the start of our campervan experience.