Wellington: Very Hip & Cool

My parents arrived in New Zealand on February 9, 2011. They were interested in seeing Wellington as they felt they had not seen it properly on their first visit to New Zealand. We had not spent much time there either, so on the weekend of February 11 - 13, we traveled an hour and half south to New Zealand's capital city.

Wellington, World Headquarters of the Verb

As you may have read in previous posts, we found Auckland disappointingly dull and thought Christchurch was scenic and friendly. Wellington made me wish I was 25 again. It was very hip & cool.

Read the small writing under 'Malone's'

Hopping Courtenay Place - Friday 7:30PM

Earlier in the week, it had taken me 4 or 5 attempts to finally find a hotel for the 7 of us (our family plus my parents). I finally landed two large rooms in the Quality Inn on Cuba St.. This chain hotel  made me think budget accommodation, but it turns out that was just the price! Score!

Happy Hour on Cuba Street

Gigantic luxurious rooms, roof-top pool and deck and the best location you could imagine. One block from our hotel, Cuba St. turned into a pedestrian promenade that was half populated with stores and half with pubs that spilled onto the pavement, very similar to Prince Arthur in Montreal, except with more alcohol and less cheap Greek restaurants.

After we checked into our hotel, we turned out into the twilight and followed the waves of people onto the hipper part of Cuba Street. The bars were full to capacity, music and street performers were everywhere and we had stumbled into the thick of the action. We ducked into a small Italian restaurant. The food was mediocre, the decor worse than that, but within 20 minutes of sitting down, every table was taken with under-25s each sporting 1-2 bottles of wine. The weekend had arrived and Wellingtonians were out in force.

We didn't know what this monument was for, but Harrison thought of something (just pretending!).

After dinner, we again followed the flow of people onto Courtenay Place. If Cuba St was like Prince Arthur, Courtenay Place was like St. Laurent. There were bars & clubs along here to fulfill any taste and they were all crowded. We made a pit stop to get ice cream and got the kids back to the hotel just as the scene seemed to be reaching full steam.

Cuba St. Sat am - Bars closed. Cafes and shops open for business.

Part of the deal for the weekend was that the girl's would get a chance to spend a couple of hours shopping. We started on Cuba St. again and discovered that places that would crank the music and serve beer after 3:00pm metamorphosed into cafes that sold cappuccinos and second-hand books by day. But there were still plenty of street performers. That was good for Harrison, my dad and I, but the girls still felt that we short-changed them when I veered the tour away from the shopping district.

"Hey Dad - there's a phone in here!"

Truth be told, we just kept walking to the end of Cuba St until we reached the Wellington Town Hall and Civic Square. I just didn't steer the ladies towards another shopping district. Cuba St. is trendy and fashionable but caters to the young & poor. Lambton Quay, on the other hand, would have left my credit card in embers as it caters to the manicured and BMWed clientele. Best not to risk that one!

Civic Square - the silver fern orb replaced a gigantic ork

We arrived at Wellington's waterfront which starts with the enormous Te Papa museum to the south and has a continuous 4km boardwalk around Lambton Harbor.  It's very well developed with parks, restaurants, breweries and wine bars peppered among museums, adventure companies and souvenir shops. The waterfront scene clearly held appeal for both tourists and locals alike.

Wellington's waterfront

I felt like exploring Mac's Brewbar at left ...

... but could have easily settled down for a glass of wine.

The kids had other ideas for entertainment

An underground parking lot on top of Frank Kitts Park is transformed into an Arts & Crafts market on Saturday morning, but we didn't find anything to buy. After a short break at the playground and ice cream truck, we left the waterfront to head up to New Zealand's parliament buildings.

Cassandra's Future Alma Mater

New Zealand Parliament and Mackenzie

Some kind of library beside the parliament

After a lot of walking, the kids started to renegotiate the day's itinerary. The first stop was the small market beside St. Paul's cathedral. In a classic case of zigging when I should have zagged, I steered our route along The Terrace instead of Lambton Quay. While the route I chose was uphill and a longer distance, it proved to be quicker and cheaper as compared to the credit minefield of the Lambton Quay shopping strip.

We grabbed a late lunch at The General Practitioner, a medical themed brewpub at the corner of Boulcott & Willis streets. We then had to chose between more shopping or return to the hotel for a nap and a swim. I always get these tough choices.

So after a swim, a soak in the hot tub and a nap, we started Saturday evening feeling very refreshed. The girls similarly felt charged after an afternoon of treasure hunting. We headed half a block down to Southern Cross. It was barely 5:00pm and the place was jumping. Someone was BBQing free Italian sausages on the patio, one band was packing up to make way for another, the outdoors patio was slippery with beer and sangria and every single table had a "Reserved" sign on it. Two "Hens' Nite" (Kiwi for bachelorette) groups were in full swing.  We pulled a few tables together in the bar to make enough room for our group.

Stonegrill Dining

The groove could easily have lent itself to a huge evening. We ended up eating Stonegrill which is a dining style where the restaurant serves you a superheated stone and you grill your own meat at the table with a variety of different sauces. It's like fondue except you cook things on a stone instead of in a pot of broth.

Chinese New Year in Wellington

After supper, we headed up Wellington's Cable Car to catch some altitude views of the city under the setting sun. We kind of got lost on the way there, so ended up taking the cable car down and then up, but this was lucky as by the time we got back up again, it was dark and there were fireworks in the sky. Wellington's Chinese population were celebrating New Year.

The next morning, we were the first clients at Roxy Cafe on Cuba St. We needed energy as we had a big day planned. Right after breakfast, we headed to Te Papa Museum, New Zealand's national museum. Five floors of New Zealand culture with plenty to see and touch for the kids.

Maori carving

Life-size whale heart for the kids to climb in.

After a couple of hours, we were "museumed out" and ventured outside to take in the crowds along the waterfront After a 25 minute stroll, we ended up at the TSB Arena to savor a lunch of Chinese food made by local merchants.

Chinese New Year along Wellington's waterfront

It was well into the afternoon and about time to head back to Palmerston North, but there was one last treat in store for us on the way back to the car. We had not anticipated intercepting the Chinese New Year parade, but it was a cool diversion for a few minutes.

Back in Palmerston North, we finished off the weekend with a bottle of Hawke's Bay Reisling, delicious takeaway Indian food and a screening of "The Social Network" that I had downloaded from iTunes.

Great weekend!

Napier & Hawkes Bay

After spending a week as an observer at work and another easy week giving anesthetics, we were ready to get back on the road again. I had initially envisioned going to Tongariro National Park to visit the trio of active volcanoes in the middle of the North Island, but as the week progressed, there was the promise of an entirely wet weekend on everything but the east coast of the North Island.

I wasn't over the moon to visit the Napier-Hastings area, but it seemed to be the only way to avoid the rain, so on Friday, February 4th, we headed off to Hawkes Bay for the weekend. It would prove to be one of the most enjoyable weekends we had spent in New Zealand.

Manawatu Gorge

We drove through the Manawatu Gorge and the gray drizzly weather gave away to a beautiful sunny Friday evening as we passed from the Manawatu region to the Hawkes Bay region of the North Island. The two regions are only about 30 minutes apart, but are separated by a chain of mountains, so often have very different weather patterns.

We drove about 2 hours to our hotel on Marine Parade overlooking the pebble beach fronting the Southern Pacific coast. As we ambled down the beach looking for a place to eat, we realized that we had stumbled upon New Zealand's 'South Beach'.

Isn't this where Superman worked?

In 1931, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake destroyed the twin cities of Hastings and Napier killing 256 people. Even considering the recent Christchurch earthquake, this remains as New Zealand's worst natural disaster. Many of the buildings were rebuilt in an art-deco style and Napier retains a flavor of the roaring 20s. It even hosts an art-deco weekend every year.

Frozen in cast bronze on Emerson St.

There were tons of rebuilt cars parked everywhere

We found a Lone Star to eat in. Not quite local cuisine as this chain restaurant tries to emulate an American tex-mex steak house, but the kids loved it and Trish and I appreciated the large Margaritas. After a lot of food, we took a walk along Marine Parade to burn off a little of our dinner. The kids put on an impromptu performance at the Napier Dome.

The Napier Dome

Then it was back along the beach to sing goodnight to the seals housed in the "Closed for Refurbishment" Napier Marineland. Back at our hotel, we tuned into the Wellington Rugby 7s tournament to cheer on the New Zealand team as they demolished the Argentinian team. This tournament looked like a blast - definitely something to attend if I'm ever in New Zealand in February again.

Nice try dude. Driver's side is on the right in NZ.

Napier and Hastings are located in the Hawkes Bay region of New Zealand. They call it "the fruit basket of New Zealand". If you're not amused by the art-deco scene in the town or haven't come to Napier to see Sting give a concert at the Mission Estate Winery, you could go for a drive along the Hawke's Bay classic wine trail or the Hawke's Bay food trail, a heritage trail or an art trail.

Hawkes Bay produces some of the best wines in New Zealand (our favorite by far) and has organized a "Food Trail" that hits vineyards, chocolatiers, cheese vendors, bakeries, a manuka honey factory, orchards ..... 37 stops in all.

We spent Saturday morning roaming around Napier to finally arrive at the tiny Napier farmer's market. We feasted on fresh strawberries and the kids obsessed over a really big dog.

Clive Square

The temperature soared to over 30 C by 11:00am, so we decided to head to:

Splash Planet!

By water park standards, this was strictly average, but what thrilled us (especially Mackenzie) was there was no height or age restrictions for any of the slides, so we could all go on! Harrison and Cassandra got a kick out of Mackenzie's squeals of excitement as she tried out real water slides for the first time.

Winery #1

Once we were splashed out, it was time for wine. Everything at Te Awa was delicious, but they were closing for a wedding 15 minutes after we arrived, so it was more of a wine gulping rather than a wine savoring.

Next, we were onto Salvare where Zoe, the golden lab (Do you think these kids want a dog?), kept the kids company while Mom & Dad chatted with owner Steve Nathan over a tasting sampler of their wines and some companion munchies. It was great to sit back and have the owner of the vineyard get to know us and tell us about his business and his wines. Go figure - his daughter married a Canadian!

With a delicious viognier in hand, we returned to our hotel to watch the sunset over the beach. What a great day!

Marine Parade and Napier Beach

Probably half a glass too many

The next morning, we headed off to the huge Hasting's Farmer's Market which takes place every Sunday morning. We ate breakfast at the market, not by sitting down at a table and ordering something, but by going from stall to stall and picking up fresh fruit, bread, coffee and juice. The kids found a waffle stall and Mackenzie spilled her strawberry smoothie all over her shirt. Trish thought it was hilarious ... Finally, we collapsed on the grass and watched some of the buskers singing and playing guitar.

There was still tons more to do in Napier, but it was another scorcher topping off at 34 C. We drove about 45 minutes south along the coast to reach Waimaramara Beach. Along the way, I found an alternate career.

So if I moved to New Zealand and worked at a vineyard, maybe this would be the one.

Craggy Range Winery

We didn't stop or taste the wine although it looked pretty swanky. This was the view from the front gates of the winery.

Again, I love my small Canon camera, but for scenes like this, it (and my photography skills) simply don't capture the majesty of the view. Breathtaking.

Farther down the road, we reached the beach. Once again - blown away. It was reasonably crowded, but no restaurants, no bars, no surf shops, no stores. I had to drive 10 minutes back into the three-house town to get some water.

Waimaramara Beach looking south

Waimaramara Beach looking north

 We stayed the rest of the day. Beautiful beach, beautiful day. Fantastic weekend.

I think most visitors of New Zealand would give Napier a miss. It's description is completely underwhelming in travel guides. I don't think I would have been in a rush to go there had it not been for crappy weather in the place I wanted to go.

So glad we visited and can't wait to go back.

Ho hum. More stunning scenery.

7 Stupid Airline Rules!

Grrrrr. Need to vent! This is about how it cost me $600 to change a $300 flight.

It has always been our plan to get over to Australia before heading home to Canada. At first it was supposed to be during the kids' school break at the end of April, but being the low-man on the totem pole at work, the vacation was all-booked, so I agreed to finish my contract early and head to Oz in the middle of July. For a Canadian, an Australian winter does not sound too scary.

Our flights home were originally Auckland to Sydney, Sydney to Vancouver and Vancouver to Montreal, all on Aug 6, 2011

So today, I decided to try and change our flight leaving Auckland to bring us to Sydney on July 16 instead of Aug 6. This would give us a 3 week stopover in Australia. Sounds awesome!

I was on the phone for 4.5 hours!

Most of this was on hold. So I tried to amuse myself by talking to my Dad and Harrison, playing 4 games of sudoko, cleaning out my Inbox (down to 15 messages!) and eating mushroom soup. I probably would have put a good dent into a bottle of something, but it was Sunday morning after all. I only threw the phone once when the Expedia guy disconnected me after being on hold for most of the 57 minute call. Even my Dad was feeling some sympathetic frustration and he had the use of both arms.

I managed to connect with a very sweet Air New Zealand representative without too much wait. I waited 40 minutes to talk to Air Canada and I talked to Expedia 3 times. They disconnected me twice and finally I refused to let the last guy put me on hold. Each time when I called back and asked to be connected with the previous representative, I was politely told "I'm sorry sir, this is against regulations". Stupid Rule #1.

Sure, I expected to pay $150 per ticket to change even the minutest detail. It's a rip off, but it's routine. Stupid Rule #2.  I even knew about having to pay the fare difference which is always higher. The fare you want to switch to is never lower. They may as well add it onto the change fee. I knew this would happen and wasn't too put off about it. Stupid Rule #3. So the total came out to the equivalent of $2310 NZD.  Add to that a $105 NZD per passenger flight from Palmerston North to Auckland for a total fee of $2845 NZD. Seems HUGE just to change a flight.

Air New Zealand's web site tells me that tickets from Palmerston North to Sydney via the same flights would cost us $1900 NZD taxes and fees in.

I explained to all 3 of the Expedia guys that their idea of changing flights would cost me almost $1000 NZD more than just canceling that leg of the flight and making my own arrangements, but in their thick Indian accents they explained to me that this was not possible.

Option 1: Cancel the Auckland to Sydney leg of our return. I would make separate (and cheaper) arrangements. I didn't even want a refund. Nabil: "This is not possible sir. We would have to cancel the whole ticket at a cost of $200 per ticket." Stupid Rule #4. Do want to bet that rebooking them would be more expensive than the original fare?

Option 2: Leave everything as is. We just won't show up for that leg of the journey. Amir: "In this case sir, your entire ticket would be canceled as a 'No Show'". Stupid Rule #5.

Option 3: Same as Option 2, but you mark something in the file that says that we aren't showing up. No dice. "I'm sorry sir, this is against regulations". Stupid Rule #6.

Option 4: Give them away to charity? No joke - I tried this. Nabil: "Sir, tickets are non-transferable!" Stupid Rule # 7. I managed to suppress the "I KNOW THAT YOU ASS. I am trying to demonstrate how ridiculous it is that I have to pay $900 to give away a flight for 5 people!" I should have done it anyway as the phone accidentally disconnected at the 57 minute mark. Grrrrr.

So there it is. Asinine airline regulations at their very best. I have to give credit to the last guy. I almost tore his head off within the first minute of our call and he unleashed a thick sickly sweet stream of generic cover-all apologies ("I'm so sorry for all your inconveniences and unhappiness with your day") taken directly from the "Dealing With Hostile Customers" section of his manual.

But they won. Eventually, I couldn't take it anymore and waved my plastic Visa card flag of surrender. I just wanted this to be over. I was done talking in almost complete circles interrupted only by dial tones, so fearing the next disconnection, I buckled and read out the Visa number. I could almost hear the cries of victory echoing through the outsourced customer service office building somewhere in Mumbai. I was a defeated man.

On the brighter side though, we're going to Australia!

Beach Country - Nelson

After spending a few good days sightseeing in Christchurch, it was time for us to start heading back up north towards the ferry. Everyone wanted to see less of the inside of the car and to find a place to sit back and enjoy the 6 days remaining in our South Island trip. Nelson seemed like a perfect idea!

Rabbit Island Beach

Nelson is the name of both the region and the largest town in the region. It is on the northwest coast of the South Island and is known as consistently having the best weather in all of New Zealand. It receives on average 2420 hours of sunlight per year (compared to 1730 in Palmerston North, 1860 in Montreal and 2038 in Toronto).

Many visitors pass through Nelson on the way to Abel Tasman National Park, the smallest yet most visited of New Zealand's 14 national parks.

Nelson is also known as an area rich with artisans and painters and apparently many of the props and costumes in the Lord of the Rings trilogy were made by Nelson craftspeople.

We arrived on January 18, 2010 and checked into the Pallazzo Motor Lodge - another Trip Advisor recommendation. The motel was impeccable and very close to Trafalgar Street, the main drag in Nelson. I asked for the family apartment but we ended up with ...

the Presidential Suite!

It was an awesome place - huge! We paid dearly for it, but it was a very luxurious space. The accommodations set the tone for the next 6 days - leisure.

This was a change from the previous weeks where it had been go-go-go from morning to night. Once we were settled in our accommodation, Kiara, the Irish owner of the Pallazzo, quizzed us on our intentions in Nelson and instantly set out to organize our entire stay, even to the point of making restaurant reservations and booking excursions for us.

Trafalgar Street - our destination is to the right

We set out to explore Nelson, but happily we were thirsty and it was late afternoon. An appealing pub on the sunny side of Trafalgar Street had a large table out front with an umbrella that was beckoning us. Score! Nobody seemed to care that we had walked about 90 seconds.

Enjoying the chilly weather

Does this count as a vegetable?

Cocktail hour stretched into dinner hour and we didn't budge. The kids got up to play on the sidewalk of the mostly pedestrian street and Trish and I soaked up the scene. Flat whites (Kiwi for Latte) to go and a stroll around the CBD (Kiwi for downtown, formally 'Central Business District') and universally closed shops. Then it was back to the motel and a movie night to finish the day.

On Kiara's recommendation, the next morning we picked up hot dogs and buns and set out to have a picnic by the beach on Rabbit Island, a short drive out of Nelson. The clouds drifted away by noon and the kids amused themselves on the beach while Trish and I oscillated between naps and a vague interest in the newspaper. Very relaxing.

The kids were responsible for gathering firewood to stoke the BBQ pit supplied at the beach and 30 minutes later, our picnic lunch was set.

After lunch, it was more beach stuff. We ambled through the surf, Cassandra gathered sea shells and Harrison and I braved the chilly water (similar to the coast of Maine) to go body surfing.

After plenty of sun, we headed home to ... well, relax some more. On the way, we made a pit stop in the artsy town of Mapua to browse through some galleries, pick up ice cream and beer.

Artisinal beer - honest!

As far as meats go, I love lamb, but the rest of my family won't touch it unless it's heavily slathered in Madras sauce. We'd been in New Zealand for over a week and I'd been denied long enough. So that evening, we set out to find some lamb for me and other stuff for the rest of the family. We settled in at Ford's Restaurant. I was not disappointed. The waiter recommended an awesome Central Otago syrah and I almost convinced Trish to try the lamb. Almost.

We had hoped to get out onto the Tasman Sea in Abel Tasman National Park, so had inquired about renting sea kayaks for Harrison and I while Trish and the girls took a catamaran tour off the coast. However, despite hot sunny weather, the seas were too rough and BOTH were canceled. So we unexpectedly had a free day on our hand.

Lunch in the vineyard at Weimea (with wine pairings of course)

We lazed around in the morning trying to figure out what to do. We managed to get organized in time to go grab lunch among the vines at Weimea winery in Richmond. Kiara had managed to book us an activity for later in the afternoon, so to kill some time, we toured a few art galleries in and around Nelson. There was some good stuff, but nothing that we absolutely couldn't live without, so we kept the plastic safe and sound in our pockets.

At around 3:00pm, we headed out to what remains as the kids' favorite activity of the entire trip so far. Horseback riding! I had tried to cue this up in North Carolina when we were there during the summer of 2010, but nobody there would take children less than 12 years old. No problems like that here. Mackenzie rode a pony and my horse had apparently starred in the Lord of the Rings. I have my doubts about the truth of this tale as my horse's truly impressive flatulence would have better cast him beside Peter Griffin (of The Family Guy) than Peter Jackson. My now disowned daughter Cassandra, who had a front row seat to this demonstration of equine grace uttered "Like horse, like Daddy." Hmmm.

However, despite the frequent loud distractions, for the kids it was 90 minutes of bliss. They loved it! We've done a lot of traveling since then and they still talk about their horseback riding experience.

Saturday morning farmer's market

The next morning we snacked our way through Nelson's large Saturday morning farmer's market. We were going to spend the rest of the day at Nelson's Kaiteriteri Beach, but the kids managed to convince me to visit the petting zoo beside the beach first. I ruminated on the fact that I had spent $25 on stale popcorn while they delighted in trying to aim the popcorn at the shy black sheep while hurling stern reprimands at the greedy aggressive white sheep.

Mackenzie feeding the monkey

Every parent who has traveled with kids knows that this is the stuff they adore - water, animals, space to run and ice cream. Whether you're visiting the Eiffel Tower or Disney World, kids will let you know that they can't wait to get back to the hotel pool.

Once we got to the beach, the kids refused to leave the large park opposite the parking lot. I wanted to go for a walk along the beach, but it played out as:

1. "Dad, the water is too cold for swimming."
2. "Let's go on the swings."
3. "Can I have two scoops of ice cream instead of one?"

 I was solo on the beach walk.

Cricket on Kaiteriteri Beach

The next day we made our way through the fog and rain back to Picton to catch the ferry back to the North Island. We had been lucky with Nelson's promise of sunny hot weather - we had had 5 days of beautiful sunshine.

At the time, Trish and I both thought how much we would recommend Nelson to visitors of New Zealand. We had a great time there. But as the intervening weeks have passed and our travels have extended to other parts of New Zealand, our enthusiasm has also faded.

No doubt, Nelson is a great beach town, but it is quiet. If you're in the mood to regroup in a sleepy sort of place, you'll enjoy yourself in Nelson. We didn't have any bad experiences there.

However, a few weeks later we visited Napier, the crown jewel in the wine region of Hawke's Bay. It's as art deco as South Beach in Miami. It has beaches (although the beach right in town is a pebble beach). It has culture. Imagine seeing Sting performing at the Mission Estate Winery. It has great restaurants and food and wine.


We had a great experience in Nelson. Certainly it was great for the kids. But if you're pressed for time, skip Nelson and go to Napier on the North Island. I'll post a blog about our visit there in the weeks to come.

So that was the end of our South Island trip and everyone felt ready to unpack the suitcases and unwind after 27 days of traveling. Back in Palmerston North, I started work and the kids started school. A little splinter of reality injected itself into our adventure. It still feels like vacation despite the shifts at the hospital. I still spend most evenings researching places to visit in New Zealand and the South Pacific and on the weekends we're eating at restaurants and sleeping in hotels. The kids' homework is the way it was for me growing up - 30 minutes max then out to play before the sun goes down.

Next post: A tourist at home - traveling in Manawatu.