Made it to Wellington

Wellington Harbour

We made it to Wellington!  Home of our Nat.  Yeah!  As she is currently tied up in a training course her lovely parents, Roger and Robyn, welcomed us at the airport and have been just wonderful hosts.

Robyn and the evacuation sign

They took us for a drive to see a few of the sights around the harbour before heading to their home.





I got a kick out of the new tsunami evacuation signs.  I just don't know how those little penguins know how to read the signs or will make it up the stairs.

Wahine Memorial Park honours the 53 people of the 733 passengers and crew that perished in 1968 when Tropical Cyclone Giselle capsized and sank a ferry in the harbour.

Victoria University of Wellington has a research programme on the captive breeding of tuatara and there's a viewing station open on campus.  Tuatara are reptiles native to New Zealand and are one of the four types of reptiles.  The species dates back about 230 million years.  It's estimated the population is between 60,000 to 100,000.



Today, they took us out on the inaugural Horowhenua Taste Trail and we got to see a lot of beautiful scenery along the way.



We didn't stop at all nine stops but we did a few.  At RJs Licorice I picked up some all sorts for my niece and nephew.





The Levin Eel farm was interesting.  Apparently New Zealand smoked eels are popular in Europe and Asia.




The most interesting stop for me was at Tendertips Asparagus where we learned about all things asparagus and an up close view of the assembly lines.


This was my first time ever seeing purple asparagus.  Who knew that there was such a thing as purple asparagus?  It's good; just a bit sweeter than "normal" green asparagus.