After Napier i had a long bus ride to Wellington and stayed at the YHA there. I had 2 full days in Wellington to finish off my north island visit. The first day there was a sunny Sunday, and i walked to the cable car (or fenicular railway if you want to be technical) got up to the top, walked around for a bit in the botanical gardens, then went back down again. Could have walked back down through the gardens but couldn't be bothered. Then went up to the parliament buildings for a 12pm tour around, there are 3 buildings all of different eras - the beehive, a 70's monstrosity/icon, a stone official looking one and another one. Tour was good, interestingly they showed us how they protect against earthquakes - they cut away all the foundations, and now the whole building stands on loads of metal and rubber discs which move with the earth. Well i was interested anyway. In the afternoon i went for more cultural-ness and went to Te Papa - a cool museum, with loads of different exhibits - Maori, art, beasts etc. As it was a nice sunny day the city was heaving with people out and about walking, cycling skating and kayaking around.

The next day i wanted to go on a day tour which saw some of the Lord of the Rings sites, a wine tour and some seals. But as it was a Monday out of season there weren't enough people to run it. But instead i went on a couple of hour tour around the city, went to Mount Victoria which has good 360deg views of the city and harbour, saw a wood where the hobbits were filmed. Headed out to some coastal areas nr Wellington, it was cool that only 10 mins drive out of the city and you're at a deserted beach. Also drove past where Peter Jackson lives (Lord of the Rings chap) and where Orlando Bloom stayed while filming too. In the afternoon it was quite rainy so wandering about found myself in yet another museum (quite cultured out now...) of Wellington and the Sea. Again, quite interesting and new looking.