The first outing took me and a few IFSA folks down to the waterfront. Wellington, while on the southern tip of the North Island, has a large harbor on its right side. There are two main harbors that are part of Wellington Harbor. A map does a much better job at showing you the layout than I can explain it, so I would suggest using that to get an idea of what I'm talking about. On this particular day, we headed towards the smaller of the two harbors: Lambton Harbor.
After getting through the urban jungle, we arrived at the Lambton Harbor. We made it past downtown and to the Civic Square. It's a big patch of area that is only accessible to pedestrians. It's sort of like boardwalk but with sidewalks.
After getting through the urban jungle, we arrived at the Lambton Harbor. We made it past downtown and to the Civic Square. It's a big patch of area that is only accessible to pedestrians. It's sort of like boardwalk but with sidewalks.
As soon as we got to the square, we saw the big ball comprised of fern leaves suspended above the ground. It has a name but I don't remember what it is at the moment. Anyway, it offered us another terrific tourist opportunity.
We continued up those stairs (which you can kind of see in the picture above) and headed closer to the harbor.
(Whales! There are little holes that act as windows so you can see the road that goes under the bridge.)
We had been told by several Wellingtonians that Wellington was known for having good weather and bad weather. Wellington is known for having a lot of "bad days:" wind, rain, overcast, you get the idea. The flips side is that "you can't beat Wellington on a good day." This was one of those.
After watching the boats for a little while, we headed down the road to an underground market. Every Saturday, the city turns an ordinary parking garage into a little craft market. They sell everything from whale-bone necklaces to tiny, doll house sized strawberry ice cream bowls. We wandered around there for a while, mostly for the purposes of getting out of the sun.
By this point, we were all starved and went in search of lunch. Luckily, my friend Kathryn had gone to a fish and chips place with her Kiwi mate and remembered how to get there.
It's hard to say there is a unique New Zealand cuisine. New Zealand is known for having excellent kumera (sweet potato), but I think I will always attribute New Zealand has having excellent Fish and Chips. I know, I know. Fish and Chips is supposed to be a British thing. But I have never had British Fish and Chips before. All I know is that Fish and Chips is my favorite thing to have in New Zealand, rivaled perhaps only by gilato.
Appartently, I'm not the only one who feels this way. Viggo Mortensen, the actor who played Aragorn in the Lord of the Rings, had a favorite Fish and Chips resteraunt, too. Did I mention, this is the same one I went to? Yes, that's right. Viggo and I have similar tastes in New Zealand cuisine! If anyone out there would like to find this place for themselves one day, here it is!
(The article in which Viggo said he came to this resteraunt.)
Part of the reason I liked this place was the price. Normally, eating out is way to expensive for this traveler's pocket, but one plate cost about $9, and it's way too much for just one person. Paying only $4.50 for this feast was well worth it. Also, in this case, three of us spit the two plates so it was even more worth it.
(A cool quote.)
(Taken from the far side of the bridge. What a beautiful day!)
(Apparently there are rowing races every Saturday afternoon.)
(The finish line.)
By this point, we were all starved and went in search of lunch. Luckily, my friend Kathryn had gone to a fish and chips place with her Kiwi mate and remembered how to get there.
It's hard to say there is a unique New Zealand cuisine. New Zealand is known for having excellent kumera (sweet potato), but I think I will always attribute New Zealand has having excellent Fish and Chips. I know, I know. Fish and Chips is supposed to be a British thing. But I have never had British Fish and Chips before. All I know is that Fish and Chips is my favorite thing to have in New Zealand, rivaled perhaps only by gilato.
Appartently, I'm not the only one who feels this way. Viggo Mortensen, the actor who played Aragorn in the Lord of the Rings, had a favorite Fish and Chips resteraunt, too. Did I mention, this is the same one I went to? Yes, that's right. Viggo and I have similar tastes in New Zealand cuisine! If anyone out there would like to find this place for themselves one day, here it is!
Part of the reason I liked this place was the price. Normally, eating out is way to expensive for this traveler's pocket, but one plate cost about $9, and it's way too much for just one person. Paying only $4.50 for this feast was well worth it. Also, in this case, three of us spit the two plates so it was even more worth it.
(Before.)
(After. Poor plates didn't stand a chance.)
It was an excellent meal to finish off an excellent day. By the way, I think the best way to bond with people is to share Fish and Chips!
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