Winter 2019 - NZ13 On to Wellington

NZ13   On to Wellington

We rode in early morning fog to find our meeting point in a tiny town whose name I forget.

Pukaha National Wildlife Centre

NZ has a lot of names that sound very familiar and even the spellings are close, you really have to study the name. Here are a few examples: Whangamata, Whangamoa, Whangapoua, etc. It’s hard to remember them. I am just not used to reading them and a lot of them start with a W.  Whitianga, Whitikaho, Whitikau (say that 3 time fast).

Lunch With a View

Carol and I, after we met the group in the fog at the wool store, decided to ride just the 2 of us but it so happened we ended up riding with the group, well, kind of. Riding in the fog, following people is just not a good idea. So we added the night’s Hotel address to our GPSs and off we went. The fog lifted soon enough and we saw the other riders.

We stopped in a bird sanctuary for lunch, but only Carol walked around the small zoo-like park. I do not like zoos in any form or shape. I sat in the café and waited for Carol to show up after her tour. 

Kaka Pests

On the outside café table was a bottle of spray to shoo away the Kaka Bird. If you see a KaKa Bird, spritz them with the bottle and they will leave. Well, I had the bottle and waited but no bird showed up. KaKa birds are rambunctious and pester you for food, they might even bite and when they do bite, it’s a bloody experience.  I just had my coffee and that was it. No Kaka birds came to bother me. 

The zoo had some Kiwi Birds, and Carol wanted to take pictures. I waited.   

Infra Red Light Distorts Picture But Fools Noctural Kiwi Into Thinking It's Night

 

If I don’t see the animals in their natural habitat I am not keen to pay for a zoo visit. I feel kind of sorry for the caged up creatures in a zoo. A zoo reminds me of a prison for animals.

I think we rode something like 300 km that day, but I am not sure, I don’t know where we actually started from, but our goal was the Museum Arts Hotel in downtown Wellington. Wellington is NZ capital city since 1865. I read that Wellington has a fantastic Museum, the Te Papa Museum,  one of the best in the world, but we had no time allotted to visit. The hotel we were in was across the street from the Museum but when we got there, the Museum was starting to close. We would have needed a full day just for this museum, but we are all in a hurry, we have to ride. 

 

Sculpture Made From Cans of Corned Beef, Hotel Hallway

Corned Beef Cans

We reached the hotel, ate dinner and then had to get up early to get onto the ferry; the ferry from the North Island to the South Island the next day. 

 

Great Fish Dinner

Parking at the hotel was difficult, a bit of mayhem. We were given space at the side of the driveway, but it was a very tight fit. Cars drove past the parked bikes within inches. Even Ellis started to worry that some bikes might get hit, which would have had a domino effect since all the bikes were parked very closely together. It started to rain that night, not much but the roads were wet.

Lobby Art - YES!