Our campground was right on the bus line, so it was “easy peasy” (as a local lady told me) to go into Wellington without driving our campervan. We weren’t sure of how to find things, so we asked the bus driver who was very helpful. In fact, he pointed out many things to us as he drove us to our first site.

It was a very rainy day so it was a good day to visit the Museum of New Zealand, Te Papa. It is in an impressive building by the waterfront. It has many interesting exhibits, including an extensive Maori collection. We spent several hours there.

Then we walked along the waterfront and through Civic Square. The "Capital E" building is there, a children’s educational and entertainment centre. We saw the famous Beehive, the Executive Office building, and the Parliamentary Building and the Parliamentary Library, as Wellington is NZ's capital.

Then we had a late lunch at the oldest pub in New Zealand. The Thistle Inn was the second public house to get its license in 1840. It used to be on the waterfront (Maori warriors would tie up their wakas out front and come in for a tipple) but now it is several blocks from the water due to an earthquake in 1855 extending the city. Amazing.

After catching a bus back to Newlands, we drove up north a couple of hours. We are staying in Palmerston North, the city of the second largest university in the country. It is raining hard; we may need to trade in the campervan for a houseboat by morning.