Just a short and sweet entry this time as we have had just a short and sweet stay in the big smoke.

NZ's capital Wellington is also known as Windy Welly (because it's very windy) and Wellywood (because films are produced there). Fact!

We visited the Weta Cave (by way of a 2hr walk) which is the company that contributed digital, prosthetic and miniature effects to the Lord Of The Rings, Chronicles Of Narnia, District 9, Brain Dead and a gazillion more feature films. They have a mini-museum with props and collectables from the movies and a 'making-of' documentary screened in a mini-cinema. We arrived in Welly the same day that The Hobbit (the long awaited, much delayed prequel to LOTR) began shooting, so there was a lot of excitement and some Hollywood a-listers hanging around. We didn't manage to spot any unfortunately.

We also visited Te Papa, the national museum of New Zealand. It has historical, biological, zoological and all kinds of other -ical exhibits. We saw the biggest colossal squid ever to be captured, we took part in an earthquake simulation, and I saw an exact replica of my late 80s/early 90s bedroom. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Ghostbusters and He-Man figures, a Commodore 64, a Supersoaker and tonnes more toys that could have been stolen from my toy box (or more likely my bedroom floor). You know you're getting old when the toys that you played with as a child are becoming exhibits in a museum. Depressing.

We also took a cable car trip up to the botanic gardens, despite having seen so many now that they all look the same. This one, however, came with a great panoramic view over Wellington. It was a true Kodak Moment (TM).

That was it for the Windy One this time around. However, we will return on our way back north to catch our flight so we expect to see more then. For now though we are crossing over to the other side. Only a month later than planned and we'll be on the South Island.