With limbs still sore from the previous day’s hike, we headed off at the slightly more friendly time of half 8 to our next stop, the capital city of Wellington. Making many stops along the way, we finally arrived there in the late afternoon. Our first night we decided to head to the main area of Cuba Street, for the weekend food markets, which didn’t disappoint! After gazing and browsing the options of food and enjoying the live music, I opted for a Malaysian dish, while David chose a Chinese option, both of which were delicious! We then said goodbye to the rest of our bus, as all but a few of us were departing the next morning, over a few drinks at the hostel bar (which played amazing 90’s music!) Our Saturday consisted of making Mexican as a group in the hostel, as well as seeing the local team, the Hurricanes, in a rugby match! Sadly, we also had to say goodbye to our close friends from Sweden, who were finishing their trip and heading home.

The next morning, we began our sight seeing of Wellington, at the Te Papa museum and the main Gallipoli exhibit. It was particularly interesting for me, as I did not really understand, or know much, about the ANZAC contribution to the First World War, and this exhibition had amazing models made by Peter Jackson and his team. The giant size models of some of the soldiers in the war punctuated the main stories of the exhibition and they were so well made that they looked like they were about to move and come to life! You could even see the arm hairs of the soldiers standing on edge! It was a particularly moving exhibition, to rival the Imperial War museum in my opinion. After a drink in a local pub, we sought out a longed after Sunday roast dinner! Of course, it was a variant of the classic and didn’t even have any traditional vegetables! However, a Yorkshire pudding somewhat made up for this.

The last of our 4 days in Wellington included a hike up Mt. Victoria to see the sunset and, as it turned out, spot planes taking off and landing at the nearby airport! We finished our day with a movie night in our room, to round up our time on the North Island.

Highlights: Te Papa museum and the Gallipoli exhibition, Cuba Street markets.

Accomodation: YHA Wellington