Our time on the South Island was over and it was time for us to take ourselves and our campervan to the North Island courtesy of the Interislander ferry. We were also due to meet Alex and Lucy in Wellington and we were looking forward to seeing some familiar faces.

The ferry journey was a little choppy although we had been pre warned by the captain who said that he wasn't going to mince his words; it was blowing a gale out there! There were some big waves and Gemma sought refuge in sleep. Some of the other passengers were looking decidedly green around the gills.

Wellington is nicknamed 'Windy Wellington' and it certainly lived up to its name on the first day. We parked up our campervan for the evening which turned out to be a car park (complete with toilet and shower block) between the dock and a main arterial road into Wellington. It did however, feel very strange to be staying in our campervan surrounded by commuters walking by on their way to work especially after staying in such lovely national parks for the majority of our time on the South Island. After 'checking in' we took the funicular with Alex and Lucy for a walk around the botanical gardens and hills overlooking Wellington and where we were subjected to the full force of the Wellington wind. We then spent a very pleasant evening sampling the hostelries in the city centre discussing Alex and Lucy's trip to New Zealand to attend friends' wedding, while we told them about our trip so far.

The next morning we met up again for breakfast (it was Gemma's turn for eggs benedict) but soon it was time to say goodbye as we went off sightseeing and they headed out to the airport on their way to Sydney. Wellington is New Zealand's capital so we visited the parliament and some of the grand official buildings. We also visited the nearby Old St. Paul's a quaint and novel wooden church. We had been so impressed with the sky at night in New Zealand especially the number and brightness of the stars so we visited the planetarium. We were a little disappointed (especially as it was half term and over run with kids) although Gemma was delighted as the film screened was narrated by the lovely David Tennant. We had a similar experience at the Te Papa museum of New Zealand (minus David Tennant).

Sightseeing over and having spent 2 days in the city it was time to get back to nature as we headed north to the DOC campsite in the Tongariro National Park.