Wellington...the fare city on the sea....

we arrived in Welllington on Thursday morning after another two days of harrowing driving through steep mountain passes and along narrow coastline.  At every turn we have not bee disappointed, the scneary has been as spectacular as advertised.

We made an afternoon stop on Wednesday at the quaint art deco town of Napier in Hawkes Bay where the presominant wine country is in New Zealand...but the rain and winds caused us to move further south in search of the sun.

Napier was constructed in the 20's and still retains most of the art deco character of that period.  The wineries that surround this area are beautiful as are the long bays and soaring cliffs.

After leaving Napier we put up for the night in Plymouth North a small college town North of Wellington and drove into Wellington on Thursday morning.

Wellling is gorgeous!  The City is set along a beautiful bay with buildings built up the side of a mountain.  On first glance it strikes you of being a very small Hong Kong, but its medditerranean influences and architecture are also ver appearant.  Throughout New Zealand there is a vast array of trees---from palm trees to pine trees and flowing trees as well.  The City is surrounding by towering mountains and inlets with breathtaking views at almost every turn.

We stsrted out by walking the City...no small feat indeed!  Along the aterfront and back through the older sections of the city--then along the Government city where the Nation's Parliament and Prime Minister live and work.  It is amazing to see cities so clean, so well constructed, so beautiful and with palm trees to boot!

after walking for hours we boarded the cable car and took it to the top of the hill that overlooks the City...the views here were spectacular!

The most dramatic part of the trip, however, was when we drove out from the City around the point of Wellington...this is Newport RI on steroids, and more beautiful that any other single place I had ever seen...until we arrived in Queenstown...more photos from there to follow.