(This is part of a trip report to NZ/AU using 125,000 AA miles and $131 to fly business class on Qantas to NZ, returning on Hawaiian Airlines, with a stop in Honolulu).

Wellington is a port city, the southernmost city in the North Island, and was named, “The Coolest Little Capital in the World,” by Lonely Planet…I agree!

Our biggest day of driving, we left Rotorua early, with some stops along the way, the first being beautiful Lake Taupo, just south of Rotorua.

My friend had read about Scullys, a family owned business selling skin care items for over 20 years and we stopped at their store, where the owner’s daughter was working!

Wonderful products (I bought lavender) and you can order online!

 

When we arrived at Wellington, we immediately went to Mt. Victoria, with a fabulous view of Oriental Bay. The first picture of this post is a walk along the wharf down below.

 

Near our hotel, we took the cable car up to a lookout and the botanical gardens. In 2012, the cable car celebrated 110 years of service to the city!

Small world…this man was from the USA and had done the Skywalk jump off the Auckland Skytower, which I wrote about in my first post on this trip.

The view from the lookout, the last stop on the cable cars.

And next to it was the botanical garden…

Our day ended with a walk along the wharf…

We ate lunch at the fantastic Logan Brown restaurant, which is an old bank building…

 

 

The food was delicious, as well as beautifully presented and plated.

NZ is quite proud of the “Lord of the Rings” (check out the safety video for Air New Zealand), as you can see by these huge creatures hanging from the ceiling in the airport!

These pictures don’t really show how gigantic they were!

Next up, the South Island….