I found the fitness center on the third floor and made use of the elliptical machine. I listened to my workout playlist while watching a muted game of cricket on TV. No sense. Cricket made absolutely no sense to me. I returned to the room to find Chris had showered and was getting ready for work. I quickly jumped in the shower as well so that I could join him for breakfast.
Chris' last day of work before we had a few days to be tourists together! Yay, I wasn't thrilled to do all of the exploring on my own. Chris and I had breakfast in the hotel restaurant. Franco joined us after awhile (though just to wait) as he and Chris were going to leave for their first meeting together. Our breakfast service was rather slow, and Chris had to wolf down his steel cut oats. I stayed a little longer to finish, but found Chris and Franco returning to the hotel lobby as I exited the restaurant. Chris had forgotten to leave money for me and had returned to bring me some.
I planned to join a Walking Tour at 10:00 am so had a little time to chat with the girls, organize my luggage, and make notes from the past couple of days.
I found the walking tour group by spying the bright green jacket of the tour guide just as they were leaving their rendezvous location.
I paid my money to our guide Lana and enjoyed what locals deemed the most perfect weather after an awful summer. There was a slight breeze, but nothing crazy like Windy Wellington was known for. Lana was originally from Washington, DC but had married a Kiwi and had lived in New Zealand for the past 38 years. She was knowledgeable of the area and interesting to listen to. We started at the pier, learning local and Maori history along the way, then moved to the business district next, then the government area, and ended up at Old Saint Paul's church.
Wellington was not known for beautiful architecture. In fact, they tried to create crazy looking buildings on purpose just to have something different. I wasn't impressed. Some of their buildings were downright ugly and designed on a whim.
One of the cool features on the tour though was this clock that opened up every hour on the hour and gave a short history of the area.
In the same building was a jewelry store that Princess Kate had stopped at while visiting with Prince William. She purchased three pairs of earrings while there, and succeeded in making the shop very popular as everyone wanted to order the $800 earrings that she had purchased.
Once the tour was finished, Lana, the guide, pointed me in the right direction toward the InterContinental. I stopped at the Pita Pit and ordered a falafel-filled pita to take back to the hotel to eat. It was delicious. I ate a lot of falafel on this trip. Some better tasting than others.
Chris wasn't finished with his meetings yet, so I walked across the street to the Wellington Museum to check it out.
Chris finished his meetings at 3:00 pm, and I was happy to meet him back at the hotel. He changed out of his suit and tie and we were off to the Cable Car to begin exploring Wellington, New Zealand together. The Cable Car ran from Lambton Quay (pronounced key) up to Wellington Botanic Garden, a garden that spread over acres of land on the mountainside.
The Cable Car was a cool ride 120 meters up the side of the mountain, dropping us off at the top of the Botanic Gardens. They had this nifty Sundial of Human Interaction. It was about 4:20 in the afternoon when we took this picture.
Chris and I wandered around a bit and then meandered down the path on the mountain through various themed gardens--the ferns, the hydrangeas, the tree house, a kids' area, and finally the Lady Norwood Rose Garden. Sadly the conservatory was closed. It was full of begonias. Every so often we would pass a park bench with a dedication plaque. On seeing one, Chris commented, "I hope that is what people say about me someday." The plaque read, "He always made us laugh."
We walked back to the hotel and talked to the girls for a little bit. It was Thursday evening for them.
Chris chose an Argentinian restaurant for dinner on Cuba Street. His choices and mine don't always mesh since I am not a big meat eater, but usually I am able to find something suitable. I thought I was getting a pizza with carmelized onions. In reality it was a slice of some kind of bread that was about 4 inches thick with a few onions on top. Good bread, but way too many carbs for me. We also ordered baked cheese and a salad. Not ideal for me, but Chris loved his meat dish. Good thing I was getting so much walking in during the day.
We sat outside in the back of the restaurant next to two ladies and started chatting with one of them--Megan (pronounced Migan). Her friend's name was Kuru (with a rolled r). Kuru sat quietly as Megan talked to us for probably half an hour. I finally asked if I could take their picture (because I am always composing a blog post in my head), and Megan turned back to include Kuru. Kuru was pretty quiet and didn't seem to mind the exclusion.
Fresh green-lipped mussels anyone?
Megan worked at the Te Papa Tongarewa (meaning our place) Museum as an art curator where we planned to visit on Saturday morning. I asked her what her job was there after Chris had mentioned that I wasn't really interested in the art a couple of times. Ah well, she wasn't offended. Talkative though. Our walk back to the hotel took about ten minutes.
