Wellington, New Zealand: Our weekend tour guide was a 3-year old Spoodle (Cocker Spaniel & Poodle mix) named Adie. This sweet pup crafted a comprehensive tour of the city, which included time spent in both Eastbourne, a beautiful residential area of Wellington, as well as Mount Victoria which provided 360-degree views of the city.
Wellington, New Zealand: On Friday night, we trekked our way up some more hills to Gardens Magic, the free summer concert series in the spectacular Botanic Garden. Catherine, Terence & Adie came down from their side of the hill with a huge feast, which we spread out picnic style. The weather was perfect for some rosé, Afrobeat fusion music and nibbles under the stars.
On Saturday, Adie and her parents took us along the water over to Eastbourne, where we hiked Butterfly Creek. We crested the ridge to even more striking views of the city (notice the trend…spectacular views of this incredible city at every turn), and then descended into the valley. We set up camp along the water where Adie could swim and the adults could picnic. And then after filling our bellies and hiking back down the mountain, we went for a bay swim. We drank rosé on the beach and couldn’t get over the simultaneous sun & moon in the sky at 7:30pm.
Sunday came and Adie suggested brunch at the Maranui Surf Life Saving Club where we sat along the water and enjoyed views south of the city and of Lyall Bay. Afterward, we drove up to Mt Vic for the 360-degree views but nearly got blown over by the wind. Some cooler weather was heading in from Antarctica, so we quickly made it off the lookout point and hiked our way down so Thomas could shoot some spectacular pines along the hillside.
Categories: New Zealand
Tagged: Adie, Butterfly Creek, Catherine, Eastbourne, Lyall Bay, Maranui Surf Life Saving Club, Mount Victoria, Terence, trees, Wellington
Categories: New Zealand
Tagged: Adie, Botanic Garden, Catherine, Terence, Wellington
Wellington, New Zealand: We’ve made it to New Zealand, our new home for a month! It’s a country Thomas & I agreed would be perfect for our first stop in a year of living abroad. It’s been on the top of our lists of places to visit, and with dear friends Catherine & Terence here to host us, we could not be starting off in a more welcoming place.
We left Düsseldorf on Sunday night, connected in Abu Dhabi on Monday morning, arrived in Sydney on Tuesday morning, and then finally made it to Wellington on Tuesday afternoon. We cleared quarantine, our bag arrived as planned, Terence picked us up and brought us to the cutest apartment in downtown Wellington (thank you Terence & Catherine!!). Such a treat to be staying here while we recover from jet lag and explore this capital city.
The view out our front window is of the harbor and all the cross-island ferries coming in. On our first day, we ventured along the water, then over & up thousands of stairs to Mount Victoria. The views of the city were stunning, and we couldn’t help but notice how much Wellington reminds us of San Francisco. Lots of hills, which may need to be navigated later in the trip once our jet lag has worn off (notice a napping Thomas amongst these photos).
Categories: New Zealand
Tagged: Catherine, New Zealand, Terence, Wellington
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