Visit to Windy Wellington ( Capital of New Zealand )

There were now serious concerns as to the Weather pattern and the likelihood of severe winds in Wellington and even worse weather over the coming 2 days. We have visited Wellington on several occasions and Ken was a regular during his work. however, whilst we have often experienced severe winds and rainfall we have rarely experienced the type of forecast as provided throughout the Ship at 7.00am this morning.

The Captain advised that we are likely to experience severe winds and the threat of storms of cyclone proportions over today and the next 2 days. They await further meteorological information but we sense the likelihood of cancellation of the Napier visit as the Captain wants to outrun the storms and probably get to Auckland.

So our arrival in “windy” Wellington is with a sense of apprehension and despite the forecast, the winds are likely to be in the 20km-30km range.

We allow the tours and others to depart and then leave the ship at about 10.00 am. There is plenty of buses and we are comfortable and able to gain seats. The 12-minute ride into Central Wellington drops us off at the corner of Lamberton Quay and Broughton Street, from where we walk up to the Wellington Cable Car. We decide to go directly to the top via the Cable Car because of the forecasted increasing winds. We ride up, take photos, visit the botanic Gardens and walk to the top of the coffee shop area.

It is a wonderful view and we can look out over the harbour. Skies are cloudy with periods of sunshine.

We then catch the Cable Car down to the Quay and walk from there along Jervois Quay to the Museum of New Zealand ( Te Papa Tongrewa). By this stage, Jeanette is experiencing difficulty walking and opts to sit within the guest reception area of Te Papa whilst Ken Explores the several exhibits including one of the Anzacs and also the volcanoes. We spend about 90 minutes here but Jeanette is sore and anxious to return to the Ship via the Shuttle.

We are aware that the shuttle departs from Te Papa, so we just have to wait until a shuttle arrives, not being aware of an extended lunch break.

Nonetheless, we see the Shuttle bus after 10 minutes, We are one of two couples aboard the bus. We get back to the Ship at 2.35 pm having had an excellent visit. We see the “Beehive” parliament buildings as we return to the ship. Jeanette has enjoyed the whole day but is sore with her knees etc. We have been to Wellington on several occasions and always enjoy our days here. The trip has come to the point of considering Auckland and if we miss out on visiting Napier then we will have a great day with Marian and Chris Cornwell.

The following photos are indicative of what we did in Wellington. A lovely city. However, shortly after departure, we begin to run into heavy winds, and forecast storm clouds are on the horizon. Shortly thereafter we are advised that our planned visit to Napier has been cancelled and we will instead seek to outrun the storm and reach Auckland a little earlier.