What to do on a rainy day? Something indoors! We ventured out just before noon to find a store to buy our bus passes, a 30 minute drive to a suburb on the winding narrow road (just about every road we’ve encountered!). We got our bus cards, topped them up with $, parked the car in the park and ride lot and headed into Wellington city centre, warm and dry on the bus.

Wellington Harbour on a rainy day.

We walked a short distance, purchasing our necessary coffees on the way, to the Te Papa Museum, a free museum on the waterfront. We were delighted to find that the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra (NZSO) Brass Section was setting up in the main hall to perform Christmas music, to get everyone warmed up for the holidays! Watch the video on YouTube HERE!

We watched and listened for a little while before wandering through the exhibits.

The Waka exhibit of canoes carved for the 1940 commemoration of the signing of the Waitangi Treaty  was interesting. The Mana Whenua (meaning “the indigenous people [Maori] who have historic and territorial rights over the land” per the Auckland Council) exhibit of the sailing catamarans of the Peoples that first arrived in Aotearoa is beautiful!

A scale model of a typical seafaring wooden catamaran with a changing background showing a beautiful day.

The changing background then depicts a stormy day, similar to today!

And a night background suggesting celestial navigation.

This beautifully carved anchor stone is practical as well.

Another exhibit is the Rongomaraeroa Te Marae, a modern Marae accessible to all.

The carvings and color are modern and airy.

Opposite the Marae is this beautiful stained glass window/door.

An explanation panel describes the various parts of the Marae and their functions.

We wandered through many more exhibits; cultural and natural histories, changes wrought by human habitation (and exploitation), and we missed many more art exhibits and temporary exhibits we will have to return to see! We ended up being swept out with other visitors at closing time! A quick walk to a grocery store and to the bus stop and a stress free ride back to the car!

In other words…”You Can’t Beat Wellington…On a Bad Day” either!

Skyline Walkway today, in the opposite direction on the narrow winding road, towards the suburb of Karori. Another beautiful sunny, windy day! We opted to walk north on the walkway, as the south route takes you up a mountain, great views, BUT, let’s not overdo it! The Walkway starts in a forest of mixed pines and native trees.

We passed the silver fern tree-ferns growing the iconic koru (spiraling new fern fronds).

We came to a fork in the road heading downhill to Karori Park at the edge of the suburb. This route took us onto “Fairy Lane”, a short trail decorated with tiny cottages (for fairies of course!).

Cute, eclectic, creative artworks!

With moving parts and hidden picture treasures!

We especially like this one, the table set with candles and wine, a fairy party ready to happen!

I didn’t know that the 7 dwarfs lived here! Which one is this?

I guess fairies and dwarfs can live in campers too.

We walked around Karori Park, watching the cricket games on the playing fields, trying to figure out what was going on – no clue! We walked a little way up the commercial street, then returned to the park and headed back into the coolness of the forest. A short way into the forest we heard and then spotted a huge parrot! Our hosts had told us about a park, Zealandia, nearby that has native wildlife including many of the native bird species like the Kaka and Kea parrots, but we didn’t expect to see a real wild Kaka! (Not my picture, I nabbed it off the internet)Our hosts also said that there are Kaka on their property too, maybe we will see them one day! Learn about them HERE and listen to their call!

We had a leisurely morning trying to decide what to do today. Finally we decided to stay close and explore the local beach, a 10 minute walk from the B&B on the narrow road. It started drizzling as we started out so we donned our rain jackets and continued to the small settlement at the beach, a few houses and a cafe opened only on weekends. There were a few other people on the beach, fisherpeople we expect, and 2 Fish & Game Enforcement Officers! The sun poked out and started burning off the clouds so we decided to continue our exploration on the Makara Walkway.

Makara Beach, with a few people way in the distance.

We started on the walkway along the beach, passing this sentinel looking out towards flat topped Mana Island and a peak on the larger island of Kapiti in the distance. Both are Nature Reserves.

We quickly had to decide to follow the beach or go up the hill to eventually loop back to the beach. We opted to go up…and up…and up…and up!

After about an hour we got to the Gun Emplacements, the now empty concrete bunkers where guns were stationed from 1941 to 1944 to defend from a possible Japanese invasion. There are scant remnants of Fort Opau which was garrisoned by 100 soldiers during the war.

What goes up must come down and we did, on a 4 wheel drive road through sheep pastures, to Opau Bay. At the top, behind the gun emplacements is an array of windmills, taking advantage of the almost constant wind here. Today the wind was from the south, great for Makara Beach which is protected from the south.

The beach at Opau Bay is in direct line for south winds and was very windy. But it was warm and sunny.

Looking west/southwest from Opau Bay you can see across Cook Strait to the South Island! But we were headed back to Makara Beach the opposite way, with the wind at our backs!It is a cobble beach, so footing was uneven. I was amazed after awhile that every few steps there were abalone shells or pieces of shells glinting iridescent among the smooth rocks. Makara Walkway, aka (to me anyway) Abalone Trail!

Our last obstacle was a rocky promontory we had to climb over. I didn’t see the figure of a lizard head in the rust colored rocks until perusing the pictures for this post!

Our route in red!

Returning to Makara Beach we still had 1km to walk back to the B&B, but at least it was flat, on grass next to the road!

This abalone decorated fence is a standout in the little settlement!

And today was a Good Day!!! Sunny, relatively calm wind, warm, beautiful! We drove another curvy oneish lane road to a suburb and figured out the bus system to get into Wellington town centre. We exited the bus at Cuba Street, the epicentre of laidback, hippy gentrification. Tons of upscale thrift stores, coffee bars, dive bars, old architecture (some restored, some not), and the best little fish & chips spot! We walked up, had lunch, and walked back on Cuba Street, then headed to the i-site near the waterfront. We passed the museums (we’ll check those out on a rainy day) and enjoyed people watching along the waterfront.

This restored building copies the colors of the blue sky and white clouds…on a good day!

This statue fronts the Marae of the local iwi (tribe) of Maori. It faces out to Wellington Harbour.

We spotted a ray in the bay! No one else seemed to notice it, or maybe it’s a common occurrence?

An old wooden ship, and a mural of someone of importance?

Wellington is the capitol of New Zealand and has claim to the cultural hub of NZ as well. There are numerous museums, government buildings and shopping districts. Eclectic art is scattered around the city.

This sculpture stands atop the old Central Library, now a museum.

Wellington is built on and around hills similar to San Francisco. We got a very San Francisco vibe here, especially when we boarded the Wellington Cable Car that takes you up the hill to fantastic views.

A model of the cable car in the Cable Car Museum at the top.

Our panoramic view at the top!

We walked back down to the city centre through the Botanic garden. We hopped the bus and found some refreshing beverages (Wellington is also the hub of the NZ craft beer scene!) before we bussed it back to the car and home.

As to the saying “You can’t beat Wellington…on a good day”, it’s due to the weather in the town being mostly windy, cool and cloudy. So on a beautiful day like today Wellingtonians really appreciate it and go outside to enjoy it! It’s also become somewhat of an anthem, check out the YouTube video HERE!

We arrived yesterday afternoon at our new accomodation in Makara, a very rural area close to Wellington at the south tip of the North Island. A very private house surrounded by greenery and garden. No long views here, but lots of light from skylights, huge picture windows and even a solar tube in the 2nd bedroom.

The living room with a huge picture window looking out at ferns, a cedar and kawakawa bushes.

The dining area into the kitchen, another huge picture window looking towards flower gardens.

We decided we needed a day of rest, so we played a new game supplied, Tri-ominoes! Then I baked a late, pseudo Thanksgiving dinner. Stuffed chicken, pumpkin-apple-onion casserole and a salad!

It was Delicious!