Arrived Wellington.

 Tuesday was a total wash out! Continual, torrential rain all day!!

We went for a drive hoping to see 1 - Mt Taranaki and 2 - the rain abating. Neither happened!

We found a cafe open from 10 - 3. Looking forward to some lunch - we'll it was 1:45 - we dashed inside. Once inside we were told that the kitchen was closed! - I  burst out laughing because this seems to be a general thread running through the cafes here! We were able to have 'food from the cabinet' i.e. sausage roll or cakes. We did get a cuppa but by the time we were half way through our food the staff had their coats on and refused to serve a couple a takeaway coffee as 'the coffee machine had just been cleaned'! Has the world gone mad or just here?

After this excitement we had an afternoon of relaxing and reading!

Wednesday Mike and I headed for Wellington. Long drive through heavy rain. We were able to find a cafe with the kitchen Open so were able to have breakfast!

Luckily the rain had stopped by the time we reached Wellington.

A walk around the water front and up into the city, with a stop for a G&T, gave us enough appetite to search for food. I was amazed that on a Wednesday evening the restaurants were full!

No this is not Mike!

We had an exciting (?) moment at 3:30am when we met the locals.

Nothing worse than a false alarm standing in the rain. Being a true traveller I made it out of the room with my bag - I wasn't going to lose my passport. Unfortunately getting back to sleep wasn't easy!!

We had a rather wet walk along the waterfront before we found a pleasant cafe for breakfast. Our bedraggled, wet, entrance must have confused some of the local 'gentry' because they immediately ceased their conversation, coffee cup centimetres from lips, to turn as one to stare at us! There was lifting of the brows and we could imagine them thinking that they weren't used to the hoi polloi in their cafe. Mike and I carried on regardless 😆.

With the rain falling we headed to the Museum and had a wander through a couple of interesting exhibitions. 

The rain eased so we headed to the cable car and took the journey to the top.

It has definitely been a cold day but here's hoping the South Island will be better tomorrow!