It isn't called "Windy Welly" for no reason, the old joke goes that you know when a person is from Wellington because they are always holding their hats and coats against the wind. We experienced the gusts first hand. The two days we spent there the sky was overcast and the "southerlies" were blowing. Thankfully, we didn't catch rain, and so we were able to explore the town.
Welly is small, but quaint. A hilly terrain by the harbor; it always looks good on photos, and its downtown is festooned with colonial-looking buildings and cafes everywhere. We walked around town. The Botanical Gardens were beautiful with the tulips in bloom. Very conveniently, a cable car takes you uphill to the Garden's entrance and you can then walk downhill all the way up to the Parliament building that looks like a bee hive, and it's called just that. Te Papa, the national museum, was very interesting, with lots of interactive displays that make the visit to the museum very entertaining.
But the most memorable attraction was the rugby match. We dressed in black, borrowed All Blacks scarfs from Simon's family, tattooed our faces with a couple of ferns, and sat down on our second row seats to enjoy fish and chips while watching the game. The All Blacks dominated and beat the Wallabies by a good margin, so everybody was happy. The town and the almost-full stadium felt like a party. At the end of the day, the Tri Nations cup went to South Africa, but beating Australia made the Kiwis forget about that.
Back in Auckland now. Continuing our spectator's list of regional sports, we are planning on going to a netball game here. Nope, I've never heard of this game before. We'll see, it will be another New Zealand vs Australia popular nail-biting clash.
Mercedes
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