Back In Wellington

LOTR

So we finally left the incredible South Island of New Zealand and returned to it's northern shores. We were back in the country's capital city and it was no bad thing. We only spent a couple of days in Wellington as we had seen the city (in parts) on our first visit here.

In honest the only worthy thing of note during our time in Wellington this time around was a trip up to Mt. Victoria which lies just east of the city centre. We took the bus up to the top (lazy - I know) and from there you get 360 degree views over the whole region. You can observe the whole of the city from up here, the harbour front and across to mountains in the distance. On the way down we walked down the wooded slopes of the mountain / hill - an area known as the townbelt. It was in this area where they filmed the famous "Get off the road" scene from Peter Jackson's - The Lord Of The Rings - The Fellowship Of The Ring film. We went on the lookout for the spot but there's no sign saying - 'by the way the LOTR's place your looking for is here' - which would have been handy. After much searching through wet and muddy ground though - I think we found the spot and snapped some photos.

We spent our evenings here entertained by a British couple - Adam and Ellie who were perfectly normal 28 year olds when sober but after a few drinks involuntarilly became 6 year old kids - the transformation was incredible. Wellington also turned out to be one big reunion for both Darren and I - although it was not planned that way. We bumped into two English girls that we had met in Dunedin, Daniella who was our roomie in Christchurch, and two Bolton girls who we had become good friends with while we were staying in Queenstown. We met them all in different locations across Wellington - that happens when you travel.

After all our hello's and then goodbyes (again) we departed for Taupo. It was Darren and myself's final stop for a while. All in all, of 7 months of travelling I have never stayed in one place at one time for longer than a week - anywhere. After a 6 hour bus ride north, we arrived in Taupo - a place that I would call home for at least a month, where I would spend my birthday and where I would finally (to the relief of my parents) get work and it (to the relief of myself) would be studying volcanoes.........