bigideasjust4u: Short stop-over @ Wellington (Part 1)

Tony has packed me off to Wellington to meet him on 24th Mar 2012 (Sat), he was away for selling in New Zealand...driving from Auckland in North Island to Nelson in South Island

and back to Wellington to meet me. He has been on the road for a week and it was definitely a good idea to join him in Wellington and return to Auckland together than him driving alone.

Departing Auckland, view from the Sky

Sea of Cloud

Our arrangement was I will be arriving in Wellington 2hours ahead of Tony, then I will explore Wellington's City Centre on my own before Tony pick me up. I took a Airport Shuttle to Lambton Quay (Wellington's City Centre), this was the first time hopping on a bus in New Zealand after 2years. I was really impressed that the Airport Shuttle has WIFI facility on board, something I would never expect to see it in New Zealand. Thumb Up!

I arrived at Lambton in less than 45mins from the airport. I was able to complete the stretch of Lambton Quay in less than 2hours. The shops found there can also be found in Auckland City, except the departmental store Kirkcaldie and Stains ( I am not a great fan of department store shopping). The street was pretty quiet and I realised that it wasn't easy to drive around in the city, the streets are mostly "One-Way" only. If you are not familiar with the area, it is better to take a public transportation. The public transportation system is more comprehensive than Auckland according to Tony.

It was not easy to find food in Lambton Quay, maybe I have a high expectation. I was not after those normal cafes which are everywhere in Auckland, in fact that aren't many in that area at all. In the end, I located a food court at Willis St in BNZ Building. OMG...it was the most pitiful and run down food court I have seen. There were a few empty food stalls, and those that were still business..you can feel that they were struggling to survive. Got myself a Chicken Bento from Maki Mono Sushi stall, the food looked most appetizing among the stalls.

Met Tony at Kirkcaldie & Stains and we went to shop around for awhile before we decided to leave Wellington(not staying a night) and head straight to Lake Taupo for a night before continuing our journey home to Auckland.