Wellington

We arrived in Wellington right on time, at 1:05 p.m. after a calm beautiful crossing of the Cook Straits. The skies are slightly overcast, but the sun comes and goes. It could be much worse in Wellington, so "they" say.

Wellington is a bustling city on Sunday afternoon, with lots of young people out shopping and sipping coffee. Coffee is certainly a national pre-occupation of the Kiwis. Everywhere there are coffee shops with many different kinds of short, long, flat white, and fancier brews. We skipped the caffeine for a lovely pint of NZ cider brewed at "Mac's Brewery" on the harbour front near the Civic Center and Te Papa Museum. Our wonderful apartment hotel is just one block from the latter, is very modern, has a kitchen with a dishwasher, etc., and it's own private balcony on the 4th floor looking across the city. Nice digs for $168/night NZ dollars.

Here are some pictures of the Queen Charlotte Track and our trip across from Picton today. The two at the top are taken going out the Marlborough Sound and looking through the channel to the Straits. The next one on the left is leaving Picton Harbour. (Matt, check out the yacht on the left.) The other four were taken on the Track: A view from one of the ridges; looking back down the track on day 3 at the ridge we'd just come over; typical track scenery in the bush; and a vew of Endeavor Inlet.