Very little rain overnight and woke to relative sunshine and blue skies. After a cook-up brekkie headed into township of Whanganui hugging the Whanganui River. Naturally the old restored paddle steamer we were advised to see was under repair but enjoyed our wander around and coffee.
On advice from locals last night, we decided against travelling via Palmerston North and headed south through the towns of Bulls and Sanson. Foxton was another quaint town with its cute windmill. Then south through Levin, hitting the coast at Paraparaumu on the Kapiti Coast. Stopped for our lunch at Raumati Beach and a chat with a very excited Adam re the fast approaching Grand Final. Still black volcanic sand with an abundance of tree debris but pleasant looking across to Kapiti Island. The remainder of the drive into Wellington was quite spectacular - flanked by mountains and railway line on one side with the narrow stretch of highway following directly along the watersedge for much of the drive. Awesome as the road swept around to reveal the vista of the harbour and city scape.
An element of stress prevailed as we attempted to find a couple of campervan sites that we later determined no longer existed, after several circuits around the city. An Information Centre directed us to a car park that allowed campervans overnight but no space was available. We decided to park in the carpark of Te Papa - the New Zealand Museum right on the edge of Wellington Harbour which permitted a 24 hour stay (for $24!). We were running out of options.
We took off on foot along the quay area and found our way to cable car lane to catch the cable car up the mountain to Kelburn and the Botanic Gardens. Superb views over the city with sunshine prevailing and not at all windy as its reputation suggests. Wandered around the gardens then caught the cable car back down to city precinct and found a much needed watering hole called the General Practitioner. From here we checked out the recommended Eat Street of Cuba Street and chose a Turkish restaurant for dinner. Then back to our car park (!) for the night!