After the walking marathon of yesterday we both woke up feeling pretty leg-weary and decided that a planning session over breakfast would be the best way to make some decisions about the structure of the day ahead. We decided we would start at the Wellington Museum, which has been recently refurbished and has a great mixture of cultural and social history exhibits. I especially enjoyed the display of a year-by-year basis of the social history of Wellington and I also learnt that Clarrie Grimmett (one of Australia’s best spin bowlers) actually came from Wellington prior to moving to Australia to seek better opportunities to play international cricket.
We followed that up with what turned out to be quick visits to the Wellington Art Gallery and the Portrait Gallery. I was particularly taken with some works by Adele Souster, but as always art being a personal preference I was left a little underwhelmed with some of the other work on display. Here’s a link to one of the paintings that I liked.
http://adelesousterart.co.nz/artist/adelsous/Artwork/boulder2014
Our initial plan was to then head to Day’s Bay for lunch, however upon checking the ferry timetable there was no ferry until 2:15, so the plan changed to lunch at Shed 5, another of Wellington’s well known restaurants at the waterfront. It is well know for it’s seafood, so fish and chips was the logical choice.
The ferry to Day’s bay takes about 30 minutes and on days like today 1-2m the boat pitches around a bit, but all was good. When we arrived I was a little surprised to see quite a crown of silly young people swimming. Seriously, the mercury had just touch 20 degrees, hardly swimming temperature.
Anyway, we left the silly young people to their 15 degree water and proceeded to explore Days Bay and Eastbourne Village. I’d expected something a little more like Noosa, but got something more like Point Lookout, There are a few galleries and shops but I suspect that’s just the way the locals like it.
There is a small strip of flat land, so once again the local cable car industry licks their lips and more houses get built into the steep terrain.
Soon enough, it was time to ferry back to Wellington. It seems quite a few people live across the harbour and work in town, judging from the number of suits getting off the ferry. By the time we returned, the clouds started to roll in, so I’m suspecting the next few days may not be quite so agreeable.
Dinner tonight was a Boucoult Cottage, a restaurant that Deb had eaten at 20 years ago. It did not fail to disappoint. I had a lamb rack and a pannacotta for dessert while Deb had a beef rib and a chocolate fondant. The accompanying wines were wonderful and we finished off with a Pedro Ximinex sherry.
It was a great end to a great couple of days in Wellington. I’ve passed through quite a few times, but never really spent time here, so it was good to get to know the city.
No fitbit badges today… only 13,000 steps today 😦
On the upside I think I’ve made my peace with Tumblr. Apparently one photo at a time is OK.
Until next time
Rob's "Beats Working" Blog 