Te Papa Parking Lot, Wellington, North Island, New Zealand. 3140km
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Maori Word of the day: Te Papa – Our Place. This is the name of Nz’s very impressive museum of art, history, and science.
The last few days have been spent in Wellington, New Zealand’s very small and relaxed capital. The city has only 100 thousand inhabitants, and the entire area only 400,000. Which means we never saw a traffic jam, had no problems finding a parking spot, and in general enjoyed our time here.
On Friday morning we drove from Ohakune directly to Wellington, about 250km. We had a great pit stop in a town called Levin. Great because a philanthropist built an amazing playground / adventure zone for kids of all ages right in the middle of the town. It was the perfect break for the kids and for us. We got there just as a group of 200 uniformed school kids left. Turns out that groups and parents come here from as far away as Wellington to spend the day. They have a BBQ area, and even an indoor kitchen with free microwave and oven. Now that’s a public park for you.
We reached Wellington in the afternoon and headed straight to the Top 10 campground, which is actually in Lower Hutt, a suburb 10km away. The campground was great, with a playground, jumping pillow, good kitchen, and unlimited wireless internet. We also met the Israeli couple from last weekend, and Ron was very excited to see someone he knows.
On Saturday and Sunday we strolled along the Wellington downtown, soaking up a more civic atmosphere than the past few weeks. We twice had lunch in Indian restaurants and some of the dishes were very good. We need to learn from the Indian kitchen, they do a lot of good stuff with vegetables. Not to mention the spices…
Yesterday afternoon and all of today we spent our time at the Te Papa Museum, which has several interactive and fun areas for kids. We also enjoyed a special exhibit about whales. Did you know that dolphins are actually a type of whale?
Tonight we are sleeping in the parking lot next to the museum, and there are 10 other Motorhomes here as well. The ferry terminal is only 5 minutes drive from here, so it is very convenient for us. Tomorrow morning we bid farewell to the North Island and take the 3 hour ferry to the south. It’s hard to believe that we have been in New Zealand for a month.
Good night,
-Hemi
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