Today is our first full day in Wellington and we kick started the day with a visit to Te Papa, the national museum. Firstly it was free to get in which is always a bonus and the exhibits and content of the museum were really impressive. There was lots of interactive stuff to do and you could also stand in a house and be part of a simulated earthquake which was a little scary!!!

The morning passed really quickly here and after some lunch we just took a walk along the harbour and across the bridge to Civic Square to see the floating Silver Fern that is there.

From there we walked for about 15 minutes to visit the Parliamentary Buildings, there are 3 in total with the newest one from the 80's dubbed "The Beehive"

We took a 1 hour tour around the buildings and this was a terrific trip and very informative. After the tour had ended we decided to watch The House of Representatives in session which was interesting and funny as they were debating New Zealand apples and why Australia did not buy them!!!!!

Left the Parliament buildings and realised that it was already 5pm and we needed a drink and some dinner so we called for a couple of Monteiths (local beer) and then went to our favourite Labanese place (again!!!) for Falafel and Chicken Shawarma before heading back to the hostel.

Today has been a great day and tomorrow we are going to take a good look around the Harbourfront and ride the Cable Car that they have here as we leave mega early Friday morning on the Interislander ferry for the South Island.

Lots of Love

M & M