hello ,

Arrived in Wellington yesterday pm ( Monday) and have to say this is one of the most interesting cities I’ve ever visited! It beats Auckland hands down really, and all the other towns we have seen on the north island. There is such a mix of different architecture for a start. One minute you are walking down a brand new shopping arcade, and then a few 100 year old wooden houses pop up, and a brick cathedral from 1866! There are Spanish and Italian-style villas dotted around the harbour on the hills that lead down to the sea and I want to live there!! (Unfotunately it is the most expensive area in New Zealand to buy property on the hills, so I doubt it!)

 You can have a walk around really quirky districts like Cuba street, which is kind of how Afflecks Palace used to be, but spread over a large area. We had lunch today in a bar called Ernestos, a kind of cuban bar with really good food and music, I recommend it if you ever visit!

You can even walk around the Parliament buildings and their gardens, lots of people seemed to head here to eat their lunches, and the sun was actually shining as well! We of course went up on the cable car to the botanical gardens at the top of Mount Victoria, and had a walk back down, past all the university buildings. I think it would be a great place to go to uni in. We are currently parked in an overnight car park by the sea front, which was a bit windy last night. I think the city has a reputation for being windy all year, and we both have bright red cheeks to prove it!

We stopped for coffee along the sea front this morning, and the guy serving was telling us that his family is from Ludlow, and that they were related to William the Conqueror, and mates with William of Orange, so if the stories my nan told about our family are true, we might have long-lost, ten-times removed relatives here!!

prob going to head to the cinema tonight, see whats on, or maybe have a few drinks. Im craving icecream, so will partake in that if we see a stall. I Dont have any pics to upload today, as I forgot to take it with us today, but below is a decent website about Wellington, with better pics than I could take!

hope you are all well,

lots of love from Mark and Gill

xox

Wellington website