Early start. A quick walk round Napier and we are off for a long old trip down to the Capital and the ferry. First stop at Norse wood for Coffee. And yes the name says it all. Scandinavian settlement in the middle of nowhere. Nice coffee shop though. Onto the kiwi sanctuary . It’s set against a backdrop of the primeval 942 hectare Pukaha Mount Bruce forest, into which native wildlife is being returned.

Here was lunch but also the famous white kiwi in the kiwi house……Sorry no pictures allowed we saw a brown and the white kiwi. Being Nocturnal everything had to be kept Dark. The poor old kiwis tend to get picked on by the bad boys of the animal world the possum and the rats who steal there eggs and young. Don’t forget these bad boys where introduced to the wild by the Europeans.

Up hill and down dale and into the hinterland of Wellington. Named after the famous duke, in 1865, Wellington became the capital city of New Zealand, replacing Auckland, where William Hobson had placed the capital in 1841. It is at the south-western tip of the North Island on Cook Strait, the passage that separates the North and South Islands. We went through the highly decorative streets and up to the mountain  lookout. what a view.

Down past the LOTR theater where Peter Jackson presented his trilogy to the world and into the Bolton Hotel (what a fabulous hotel & free wifi too. You other hotels pay heed). Got a guided tour of the city after dinner with Subs. Thanks mate. Fly safe.