s e v e n i s a j o u r n e y

So, we picked up a somewhat jet-lagged Holly Thursday morning. As she was not totally wrecked from the journey, we immediately started with the fun. It started with a drive around Moa point and the eastern (Seatoun) edge of Wellington, with a stop at Chocolate Fish for second breakfast. The weather was winter-Wellington at its best– clear, sunny and still. We sat out by the harbor channel and watched the sea birds as we ate. After that it was back to the farm, a tour and meet-and-greet with the cute and fluffy animals. After lunch we got back into the car, and drove through Wainuiomata and down the coast road. With it so sunny and still, it was a great day to walk on the beach. The snow-capped Kaikoura ranges on the south island were clearly visible, and we even saw a fur seal, perched high atop a rock spur with the waves crashing all about (I don’t know how it got up there with flippers, but it surely was Orca-proof up there!). After that we drove back around to Eastbourne, and got a great view of the city from across the harbor. Dinner was at Day’s Bay pizza, one of the two good Italian-style pizeria places in Wellington.

Friday Tam went into work. Once Holly got up (after a rejuvenating 11 hours of sleep), we went into town. Up first was Mt Victoira, both for the panoramic city views, and for the “Get off the road!” spot from Fellowship of the Rings. After that we went down to Te Papa, and in two hours managed to get through about 5% of the place. We then met up with Tam, Steve and Kerry for lunch. Tam pointed out we should not be spending a nice day in a museum, so after lunch Holly and I drove up to Otari-Wison bush, which is an old-forest remnant at the western edge of Wellington city. It is filled with lovely old native trees, and Holly got to hear her first R2D2-like Tui call. Friday evening our normal role-playing group came over, and we all had a fun social time (I believe Holly described our friends to be “as she expected”).

Saturday was the previously scheduled spin-in, where a half-dozen or so of our hand-spinning and weaving friends come over for a social day of work and crafty-education. (These days are great, as we always sell some alpaca fiber. Joy’s lovely chocolate red-brown fleece was in demand this day.) After lunch Emily came by to take Holly away for her LoTR tour of doom. Today (Sunday) Holly and Emily are hiking in Kaitoke regional park, I think. We will find out when we meet them for dinner tonight.