I started keeping a diary on our trip... but I only wrote an entry in Day 1 LOL. So I thought I might record my memories here before they fade too much!
I caught the bus to Wollongong on Wednesday night then Mum, Dad and I were up just after 4am to drive to Sydney for our flight to Wellington. We checked in (with 7kg to spare for shopping in NZ!) and went thru Customs. Dad was randomly selected for a more thorough inspection. The guy doing the search was friendly and didn't seem to mind me taking photos but another Customs Officer asked me to delete my photos - few days later I realised I had this photo hiding in an obscure folder on my phone LOL.
We had breakfast with a nice backdrop...
...had a look around the duty free shops...
...and eventually we boarded our plane!
It's 9 years since I've flown anywhere and I've never had the individual screens. How good are they to pass the time! Charlotte and I synchronised our screens watching Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter.
Alicia, Mum and Dad sat behind us.
After three hours we reached New Zealand and wow, those mountains are enormous!!! These ones were babies, but I love how the mountains go all the way to the sea.
After a smooth flight we landed in Wellington. The owner of the apartment was waiting at a cafe downstairs and recognised us apparently by our cold weather clothing... but I think our luggage was probably a pretty good clue too. Our apartment was on the 9th floor of Chews Lane apartments and WOW, what an awesome location! It was close to the harbour, shops and cafes. And it was a gorgeous apartment. He was a lovely friendly guy and chatted to us for quite a while. Charlotte quietly said she wanted him to wrap him up so we could get out and explore!
We headed to Lambton Quay, a street close to our apartment with plenty of shops.
There are so many gorgeous buildings in Wellington. The CBD was full of beautiful old stone buildings from the mid 1800s and some art deco beauties.
I was trying to sneakily take a photo of all five of us in a huge mirror in a clothing store and the shop assistant discovered us and offered to take our photo LOL. What a friendly bunch they are in NZ.
Here's a little background to this shot. There's an old guy I often see in our local shopping centre who I've come to name Dapper Chap. I get so excited to see him cos he dresses smartly in a waistcoat and jacket, top hat, has a white handlebar moustache and carries a cane. I laughed to see his likeness in Wellington and mum just had to take this photo!
And I didn't muck around - I got straight into some shopping! Buying these gorgeous things on sale for $69NZ.
Charlotte had researched a place for dinner and this turned out to be my FAVOURITE building in Wellington (the Old Bank building above was a close second). It's called the GP and is now a restaurant and bar, but it used to be a doctor's residence and practice.
It's decorated with lots of old medical books and equipment and I love the original architectural plans they have framed on the walls.
I ate some New Zealand mussels which were much smaller than the ones we get here, but yummy.
You will come to learn that on our holiday, food played a major role!
I'll be back hopefully tomorrow with Day 2!
4 comments:
I loved revisiting our trip. Keep up the good work. A page a day. Love seeing your photos. Look forward to the next post.
Love Mum
Fabulous! Looking forward to seeing you again soon. xx
Moi xx
Just like Mum, I love reliving our trip & seeing it through your eyes! And seeing it through the eyes of someone who hasn't been overseas for 20 years!
The GP was my fave building too, it was gorgeous!
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