Lower North Island... Wellington, New Zealand

Our bus trip from Rotorua took us to the nation's vibrant capital city, Wellington. It's the political heart of the nation and home to the country's landmark national museum, Te Papa Tongarewa. It's magnificent and it's free! Bob and I visited Te Papa in 1999, but the 2 hrs. we had to explore it before catching our ferry to Picton, was not enough. We shall return! The Te Papa does an excellent job of telling the stories of the land, people, culture, art and history of New Zealand---- all housed in an extraordinary building. In the Maori language, Te Papa meands "Our Place."

The snow-capped mt. in the picture may be familiar to "Lord of the Rings" movie fans. We saw it while on the bus as we drove through Tongariro National Park. A lot of the movie was filmed in the park.

We arrived in Picton (along with the cattle) at 6:30pm. Rachel, from our hotel, picked us up and drove us out of town about 5km. to Waikawa Bay, our home for the next 3 days.