They rudely slept through my visit. |
Staring at them longingly didn't wake them up. I tried. |
Look! I gots koalas in the photo with me!!! |
The next day, we flew out of Sydney, to New Zealand! With our last Aussie dollar, we bought a yummy chocolate Tim Tam. |
We landed in Wellington, at the south end of North Island, New Zealand. We landed during a near-hurricane. Welcome to the Wellington YHA and summer! |
The Wellington YHA (Youth Hostel Association) had a ginormous, gorgeous kitchen. |
But we chose NOT to cook dinner, because Wellington is renown for its Malaysian food. I ate that delicious laksa so fast I never got a photo of it. |
The next morning, we attempted to enjoy a farmer's market. In a windstorm. And rainstorm. |
Only espresso could save us. |
Wellington's very strange architecture. |
Wellington is a seaside city, also known as "Windy Welly" for its windstorms. |
More weird and wet architecture. |
The Wellington Museum. |
The Visitor's Center is tucked next to the Museum. |
A suspended steel ball over the museum plaza. I'm not sure why it's there, either. |
Wellington's famous Te Papa Museum, which houses Maori and natural history treasures. And, it's warm and dry. And free. |
Matt enjoys the musical instrument exhibit... |
And then, at 3pm, we picked up our rental car and began the Road Trip! |
Oh yeah baby. Guess where the Joneses are headed. |
First stop: 1 hour north of Wellington is Martinborough, a lovely winemaking town. |