Wellington & Mangaweka, New Zealand

After an incredible 4 and half weeks on New Zealand’s South Island, we took the 3 hour ferry ride through the picturesque Marlborough Sounds before crossing the Cook Strait to the North Island. We arrived in Windy Wellington just as the sun was setting and it wasn’t long before we found somewhere to pull up our campervan for the night.

Leaving Picton, South Island

Sunset over Wellington

We only spent one day in Wellington, so after wandering around the harbour we headed to the Te Papa Museum. The musuem is free and had few interesting sections including an introduction into Mauri culture, New Zealand’s native wildlife, an earthquake simulator and some incredibly lifelike waxworks. Afterwards we headed up to Mount Victoria for a nice, albeit windy, view of the city.

Waxworks at Te Papa Museum

View from Victoria Hill

Our next stop was visiting some family friends, Louise and Mark, who live on a remote hill farm on the outskirts of Mangaweka. When we arrived Mark took us for a ride around the farm in his Ute (aka pickup truck) and showed us some of his sheep, cattle, horses and deer. The view over the surrounding mountain ranges was pretty impressive too!

View from the farm

Mark & Louise

After sunset, we put our ‘togs’ on and jumped into the hot tub. This was such a treat after spending almost 5 weeks living out of a campervan. Louise and Mark were fantastic hosts; it was great to catch up and have a few days of relaxation!

Next stop: Napier, New Zealand