We left Napier just after 09.15, it had rained all night from around 18.00 yesterday, absolutely torrential at times. By the time we got out of Napier though it was clearing up and in Hastings just 15km away it was starting to get brighter if still a bit cloudy, the further we went the better it got. We were supposed to go through a gorge to cut through the mountains but the road was closed so we got diverted over the top, for those who know it think Sychnant Pass but with roadworks. The compensation was the view. We stopped for lunch in a town called Levin, cream donuts and coffee and some black boy peaches, we were told these are hard to find so we should buy some and eat them if we come across them, tasted just like peaches surprisingly. Mostly the road was just a single carriageway but with passing lames well sign posted but more often than not slower traffic such as lorries or horse trailers (of which there were a lot) just pulled over to let faster traffic pass. There was a decent stretch of new dual carriage way north of Wellington and also on the immediate approach to Wellington it was dual carriage way except for a stretch along the coast. The maximum speed limit is 100 kph, in the approaches to towns it goes to 70 kph and through towns it is generally 50 kph, we have only seen a couple of police vehicles and in general people travel about 10% over the stated limit. Most of the places we passed through had Maori names, the only ones that stuck in my mind were: Pakipaki, Periperi and Pukapuka.

We drove straight to the hotel which is directly opposite the National Museum on a quite busy main road, we had managed to find a petrol station just before the hotel so filled up the car at $2 a litre rather than pay the Avis rate of $2.62 a litre, as the car was close to empty that saved nearly $30 (or a bottle of wine). I managed to find a parking bay right outside the hotel and we carried the bags in and dumped them at reception. We then drove about 700m to the Avis depot and dropped the car off and then strolled back to the hotel to check in. We have an apartment room for 2 nights which means we have a cooker, fridge and washing machine/dryer! So it was empty the laundry bag, strip off and fill the washing machine. Up to now I have been washing my shirts in a basin but I was introduced to Rohan shirts (thanks Jayne/David) a few years back and although they are fairly expensive, they weigh a lot less than other shirts and they dry overnight without needing ironing. And of course we have our Jayne Hallett recommended washing line! No traveller should be without one.

After our washing finished we put the tumble dryer on and went out. We walked straight out of the hotel and across the road onto the quayside, turned left and walked along the wharf, there were some dragon boat races practicing in the harbour. Although it was dry it was breezy and quite cold, especially compared to Napier, and it was threatening rain, we browsed various restaurants along the way. All of them had virtually the same menu, catch of the day, pork belly, fillet of beef, loin of lamb, duck fat roasted potatoes, seasonal vegetables. We headed into the shopping area and back toward our hotel, on the same road as the Avis depot we spotted a Turkish restaurant and on a whim decided on that. Really good meal and with a bottle of wine it was less than £50. Wellington is not the biggest city in NZ but it is the capital, even so the diameter of the city is just 2km which means you can walk across it in about 20 minutes.

The hotel is the Art Museum Hotel and there are various pieces dotted around the place, Fiona liked the ladies toilets in the lobby, enough to take a photo.

Tomorrow evening we have a wildlife walk so we will have to have a decent lunch. We are aiming to go on a guided city walk in the morning and look around the museum in the afternoon. On Friday morning we have to be up early as we need to check in for our ferry trip at 08.15, the ferry to Picton takes over 3 hours to cover the 90 km, we then pick up a car and drive the 30km to Blenheim.