Our all-too-brief stay in Wellington

Wellington is a great place. Both of us were surprised at how quickly we felt at home there. Despite being the capital city of New Zealand, it's a small place (about the same size as Martin's home town of Huddersfield). Initially we lived in a serviced apartment in Boulcott Street in the heart of the city, mere yards from Logica's office. After a while we found a rented house in the suburb of Karori. It was a large-ish house, with a big garden which bordered onto the Karori wildife refuge which is currently being developed. There were also 35 steps up to the front door as it was on the top of the hill so a bit exposed to the high winds that Wellington is know for. Here are some pictures of the view from our house in Karori.

Once we'd bought a car (a 1991 Honda Prelude), we did some exploring. The first place we visited was Mount Bruce Bird Sanctuary, about one and a half hours drive from central Wellington. It's not really a zoo because they're using the centre to try and re-establish some of the native birds of New Zealand which are under threat of extinction (birds like the takahe and of course the kiwi). They have large enclosures housing breeding birds, so sometimes it's difficult to spot them. There are also some birds such as the kaka (a forest parrot) flying free in the park, and you can watch a feeding session. They also have huge river eels in the stream, and a nocturnal kiwi house (but the 2 occupants were a bit shy when we went to have a look). It's a great place for a visit, and is doing an important job.

Over the Easter weekend we went to Martinborough, a small town in the Wairarapa region, about an hour's drive from Wellington. The main thing that Martinborough is famous for is wine - there are about 20 or so vineyards in and around the town and we visited most of them. Martin wrote a report on some of the vineyards we visited and the wines we tasted, and you can find that here. We had a great time in and around Martinborough, visiting some excellent restauarants and exploring the very pretty countryside out as far as Cape Palliser, where we saw some fur seals. We also climbed the steps to the lighthouse to see the view from the most southerly point in the North island.

Martin's concern that he wouldn't be able to find any decent beer in Wellington was partly eased by the discovery of the Malthouse pub in Welington. This place has about 25 different beers on tap, including such English favourites as Old Speckled Hen and Newcastle Brown (albeit chilled almost to freezing point). the pub was a favourite watering hole of the Logica New Zealand staff, and gets a mention in an article by the famous beer writer Michael Jackson (no, not that one).