As we were a bit delayed I had to speed through Auckland airport from international to domestic - after getting rather a grilling from the immigration who asked to see my return ticket (cold sweat-going back to Libya-I could see his whole attitude shift…) but let me go after a few more awkward questions. What is it with these people that you should end up feeling like you have done something wrong when you really haven’t??!?
One last, hour-long flight to Wellington and that was it! Finally at the end of the Long Way Down and rather glad to be there :-)
The airport in Wellington is situated in a bay outside town and flanked by hills, meaning it is a pretty tricky landing due to wind currents etc. This means international flights cannot land here as big jets would just not make it. But it was nowhere near as hairy as Hong Kong or Madeira!
We are staying in serviced apartments which are very nice and modern, and central. Matthew was already here when I arrived so I just dumped my things and freshened up after which we headed out for dinner on Cuba St, one of the two main nightlife streets in town. It was, admittedly, just a Tuesday night but we found town to be REALLY quiet!
Next morning we got up and decided to try one of Raf’s brunch recommendations out in Lyall Bay. Luckily the bus outside our appartments went right there and it was a really great place…definitely makes it on my top 3 brunch places list around the world! Here are a few photos of Maranui and the view from the terrace…the plane pics above were also taken from there.
After that we just spent the afternoon walking around town a little, doing a spot of shopping then resting legs (especially Matthew’s) before the IYDU kick-off at 6.30pm. We just had time to sneak in a coffee and yuuummmmy muffin at Fidel’s (don’t say it-on Cuba street, with the commies) with Donnie before heading off to parliament for welcome drinks with Nicky and , the leader of the Nationals.
Dinner and drinks followed at the Hummingbird in Courtenay Place (the other hip street), which was quite a nice location and thankfully had outdoor heaters.
Next day was a full conference day, but Donnie, Matthew and I skipped the afternoon session and headed up to the botanical gardens.
The gardens were pretty nice, if a little small. To get up there we took the cable car, which was a fun way of travelling. The gardens were well kept and especially the begonia section and the hydrangea valley were the highlights for me. Generally though, it was just pretty amazing to see so many shades of green!
That evening there was a reception at the Beehive (parliament building) with Prime Minister John Key, and Matthew and I got the chance to have a bit of a chat with him-he seemed pretty down-to-earth and it'll be interesting to see how he fares in the next few years.
Dinner and drinks at the Matterhorn, another place to see on Cuba St...another nice evening, with Chialin and Donnie.
Spent all day in the conference the next day, as there were pretty good speakers on that day, then tried to catch a few rays of sun outside parliament before getting ready for the conference dinner at the Backbencher pub, followed by drinks at the seafront. Incidentally the weather has been sunny but it is pretty cool-max of 22 degrees, which apparently counts as 'hot summer' here :-s
The original shoreline, before a whole load of land got reclaimed
'If this were 1840 I would have very wet feet!' - aka downtown Wellington
Finally Saturday morning saw the committee elections etc, which Matthew skillfully avoided but I attended with my vote...one of the longest meetings I have been to in IYDU! Not much time left to have a bit of a rest then head out to the Botanical Gardens for the final barbecue then onto Red Cube in town for the rest of the evening (and to escape the freezing cold and spots of rain!)
That concluded a well-organised conference and nice stay in Wellington. I am pleased to have seen the town but am glad to be moving on now...after spending 3 days of conference locked inside the parliament rooms (Caucus room-can't complain too much, it was pretty nice to be able to roam around inside parliament without restrictions) I am ready to take off and get some sunshine and fresh air! Except, of course, the beautiful sunny weather seems to have disappeared now...
