Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year
Happy New Year to our reader.
It is Monday 1st January and we are in Napier, NZ. We are about 15 hours into 2007 here,whilst you guys back in the UK are probably still partying in the early hours.
We had a bit of a BBQ at the YHA last night and then went into the town where there was a free concert and fireworks at midnight.It was all very exciting. There is a drinking ban in place on the streets and this applied to the concert arena which is on the seafront as well. We managed to sneak some red wine & beer in, but it was actually quite refreshing to be in the middle of a town on New Years Eve where people weren't throwing up and showing their arses.
Prior to coming to Napier we had spent Christmas with Paul & Jackie in Wellington,then traveled up to the Tongariro National Park and then on to Taupo.
So let's talk about Wellington - Windy Welly as it's known colloquially.
We flew down from Auckland on December 21st and were picked up by Paul & Jackie from the airport. First thing we did was look around the National museum in Wellington. Very good museum this, with lots of stuff about Maori culture -all free as well as all the museums proved to be in Wellington.
We also took a tour of the Parliament building, which was very informative - also free.
Whilst in the City we took a photo of the war memorial - really to capture the script on it.
Wellington's a really interesting city - very compact, but with lots of good theatres and cinemas and a good cultural scene.
We went to a couple of the cinemas. The first film was garbage - Holiday, starring Jude Law, Cameron Diaz, Jack Black & Kate Winslet. Two hours of life wasted watching this.
The other one was The Queen -starring Helen Mirren,which was very good.
We watched this at the Embassy, which is a superb restored building, housing also a kind of Art Deco jazz bar.
Christmas Eve - here's a photo of us clutching our xmas card and a little golden artificial tree together with a drop of the red stuff.
Traveling opens up unique experiences.
Christmas Day - We had a really good Christmas day at Esther's (Paul & Jackie's daughter) house. One or two pics here to sum it up.
Good Company,good food,good wine - ideal.
On leaving Wellington we headed up to Tongariro National Park on the Kiwi Traveller bus. We have long since left off hiring cars now and will be taking public transport all the way up to Auckland.I did the Tongariro Crossing Walk- purportedly one of the Worlds best walks. I'm sure it would be on a good day, but it was cold, wet, misty and extremely windy when I did it. Still enjoyed it though.
We spent two days at the YHA in National Park. It was the worst of the YHAs that we stayed in. Those at Pahia,Kerikeri & Wellington all being very good.
From National Park we caught the Kiwi Traveller again up to Taupo. Taupo was an excellent place and just for a change the sun came out. It was here that we came across some guy sitting on a sofa in a hot spring (pic to be added to this post later).
From Taupo we traveled by bus across to Napier - the Art Deco city -where as you know we spent New Years Eve.
Today wemoved from the YHA there (as it's full)into a B & B. We have been to another wine tasting where we visited 8 separate wineries and sampled something in the region of 45 different wines. So am now feeling tired & grumpy (particularly after just checking on the New Year's day football results).
It is Monday 1st January and we are in Napier, NZ. We are about 15 hours into 2007 here,whilst you guys back in the UK are probably still partying in the early hours.
We had a bit of a BBQ at the YHA last night and then went into the town where there was a free concert and fireworks at midnight.It was all very exciting. There is a drinking ban in place on the streets and this applied to the concert arena which is on the seafront as well. We managed to sneak some red wine & beer in, but it was actually quite refreshing to be in the middle of a town on New Years Eve where people weren't throwing up and showing their arses.
Prior to coming to Napier we had spent Christmas with Paul & Jackie in Wellington,then traveled up to the Tongariro National Park and then on to Taupo.
So let's talk about Wellington - Windy Welly as it's known colloquially.
We flew down from Auckland on December 21st and were picked up by Paul & Jackie from the airport. First thing we did was look around the National museum in Wellington. Very good museum this, with lots of stuff about Maori culture -all free as well as all the museums proved to be in Wellington.
We also took a tour of the Parliament building, which was very informative - also free.
Whilst in the City we took a photo of the war memorial - really to capture the script on it.
Wellington's a really interesting city - very compact, but with lots of good theatres and cinemas and a good cultural scene.
We went to a couple of the cinemas. The first film was garbage - Holiday, starring Jude Law, Cameron Diaz, Jack Black & Kate Winslet. Two hours of life wasted watching this.
The other one was The Queen -starring Helen Mirren,which was very good.
We watched this at the Embassy, which is a superb restored building, housing also a kind of Art Deco jazz bar.
Christmas Eve - here's a photo of us clutching our xmas card and a little golden artificial tree together with a drop of the red stuff.
Traveling opens up unique experiences.
Christmas Day - We had a really good Christmas day at Esther's (Paul & Jackie's daughter) house. One or two pics here to sum it up.
Good Company,good food,good wine - ideal.
On leaving Wellington we headed up to Tongariro National Park on the Kiwi Traveller bus. We have long since left off hiring cars now and will be taking public transport all the way up to Auckland.I did the Tongariro Crossing Walk- purportedly one of the Worlds best walks. I'm sure it would be on a good day, but it was cold, wet, misty and extremely windy when I did it. Still enjoyed it though.
We spent two days at the YHA in National Park. It was the worst of the YHAs that we stayed in. Those at Pahia,Kerikeri & Wellington all being very good.
From National Park we caught the Kiwi Traveller again up to Taupo. Taupo was an excellent place and just for a change the sun came out. It was here that we came across some guy sitting on a sofa in a hot spring (pic to be added to this post later).
From Taupo we traveled by bus across to Napier - the Art Deco city -where as you know we spent New Years Eve.
Today wemoved from the YHA there (as it's full)into a B & B. We have been to another wine tasting where we visited 8 separate wineries and sampled something in the region of 45 different wines. So am now feeling tired & grumpy (particularly after just checking on the New Year's day football results).
posted by Leon Trotsky | 2:21 am
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