On Friday morning we woke up to this view of the Wellington Harbour. It was quite amazing. Donny and Marika are friends with a guy from their church whose parents live in New Zealand and so we had arranged to stay with them in Wellington. We had assumed that we would have two days to explore the various sights around the city but Jim, our host, had other plans and took us out on an all-day tour of the southern part of the North Island. First, we went to
Rivendell.
Well, okay, that above part was just a cool forest, but then we did stumble upon Rivendell.
This is actually where the scene from The Lord Of The Rings Movie was filmed, but thanks to computer animation, it looks a little different :) Check out the movie version
here.
After a stop for lunch we headed out to see a seal colony on Cape Palliser. However, the road had other plans for us.
That part where the water is flowing is supposed to be the road. Below you can see how we would have risked being swept into the ocean if we'd chosen to cross over. Needless to say, seeing seals was not that important to us.
So we contented ourselves with taking some interesting pictures of the coast.
And then a penguin crossed the road! (Okay, I just
wish a penguin had crossed the road.)
After that we headed back to Wellington and rested for a bit before heading to a great Italian restaurant for dinner. And then we geared up for the next day -- exploring Wellington itself.
*To read about Day 9, go here. To see my Project 364 photos of New Zealand, go here.
How pretty! I kind of wish that I could see a penguin crossing the road too. =)
ReplyDeleteWow, I'm enjoying all these pictures.
ReplyDeleteThe penguin crossing!! Too hilarious!!! When I went to New Hampshire in college to counsel at a camp they had "Moose Crossing" signs everywere, which also made me laugh!
ReplyDeleteOkay, I guess I am probably your biggest LOTR follower here, but I just love all the references to that movie. While the real Rivendell may not quite live up to the fantastical one in the movie, it is still quite lovely, and I can almost imagine some little pointy eared elves running around there. Ha! And yes, if you had only seen a penguin, your trip would have been complete. Guess you need to go back in the winter time. ;-)
ReplyDelete