January 15 - Wellington

Friday 15 January

Today we arrived in Wellington. Just sailing into the harbour we could see it was living up to its nickname – Windy Wellington – was it ever. I’m glad we had been on another occasion and did our tour of the city in better conditions! It would have been a real struggle walking around the city today.

Instead, we had arranged to hire a car and head out of town. Probably just as well as an additional 3000 passengers were also disembarking from Voyager of the Seas which arrived in port just behind us!

After taking the shuttle into the city we picked up the car and headed to the Wairarapa region – an area known for its food and wine. Indeed it is the largest wine growing region in the North Island, larger than Hawke’s Bay which is better known.

The drive up over the Rimutaka Hill was gorgeous. We stopped at a couple of lookouts on the way. The one at the top of the range was superb, but the wind was so strong it was difficult to stay upright! We could see why James Cameron chose this area for Rivendell in The Lord of the Rings! In fact we found out later that he fell in love with the region and moved his family from America to the Wairarapa. He even has his own organic deli in historic Greytown.

After wandering Featherstone (where we visited the historic Fell Museum) and Greytown (to see the early Victorian timber homes and buildings) we drove across to Martinborough. Famous for its vineyards, there are also many historic buildings in this quaint town built around a small square.

We found a busy café for lunch and I tried a glass of the local pinot noir – quite a lovely drop!

After a short stroll through the town we headed back to Featherstone to pop in to the famous cheese shop. Unfortunately we had no way to keep cheese on the ship so we had to pass up the opportunity to buy. We did, however, buy a very tasty ice cream a couple of doors down!

Another very enjoyable day.

The highest point of the pass over the mountains to the Wairarapapa

You can just see the road we have travelled, hugging the hillsides

And this is where we are headed - down the other side

So windy - have to keep hold of that cap!

This is the last fell engine to travel the route over the hills having carried passengers from 1878 to 1955 when a tunnel was completed through the hills. Specially designed by John Fell, it's unique braking system was first used in the Lake District in England.

Greytown, just north of Featherstone has many beautifully preserved timber buildings

There is even a 100+ year old eucalypt which was planted in the church grounds by a minister from Australia

Arriving back in to Wellington we have a good view of both ships. The Solstice, on the right, looks larger than the Voyager of the Seas, but is in fact a smaller ship, both in dimensions and passenger numbers

Cruising north we traverse Hawke Bay where we will return later in our journey

Passing the Mahia peninsula at the north end of the bay