The day in numbers:
341 km driven.
10°C too hot.
All 4 windows wide open.
All 4 windows wide open.
4 litres of water drunk.
Number of times lost in the city: 0!
Map of Day 11:
T - Napier. U - Masterton. V - Wellington
With a long drive to Wellington ahead of me, I didn't have much time in Napier to see the town. I did go to the National Aquarium of New Zealand though. I love zoos and aquariums. In my experience no country does them as well as the UK, this one didn't buck the trend, but it was OK.
Here are a few of the characters who were splashing about. It is very difficult to take a picture through the wall of a tank. There are all sorts of reflection issues.
The sea turtle wasn't impressed with me taking his picture. He went and put his head behind a rock straight after this.
This is a Little Penguin, there seems to be more species of penguin than I realised. Every time I see a sign for wild penguin colonies or for an animal park exhibit, it is always a new type.
This tortoise was nodding his head up and down like a teenager with an iPod on a bus. His scowl is also reminiscent of that, I expect when he goes out, he walks around with his shell hanging halfway down his arse.
This a lizard of some sort. I can't remember what type of lizard it is, but like the rest of the residents of the aquarium he has a face like thunder. That Jurassic Park stare is quite something, he didn't move for the five minutes I was there trying to get an in-focus photo. He could have been fake to be honest.
They had a tunnel under a big fish tank that contained lots of boring fish, then a few stingrays and the odd small shark. On one side of the tunnel floor was a moving horizontal escalator like a baggage carousel in an airport. No-one seemed to notice it, and I saw two old ladies nearly hit the deck. They were too busy looking at the fish to watch their step.
These are piranhas. What I would really love to see is a demonstration where they tie a big ham onto a rope and lower it into the water for a few seconds. Then pull out just a bone. I think these are the kind of things that would make aquariums a bit more lively. These fish also look like they have been decorated by an eight year old girl, who has pritt sticked a load of glitter onto them, but quite a lot has already fallen of.
And here is the world's grumpiest fish. I don't know if he had just lost his job, or been dumped by his girlfriend, but that face!
After the aquarium, I hit the road. There wasn't a cloud in the sky and I had a feeling that it was going to just keep on getting hotter. I was right. It got so hot.
The air conditioning in the Avenir is powerful (and noisy), but next to useless. On its coldest setting, the air coming in is still warm. So I put the back-up air-con on. To turn it on, I put all heavy objects on top of light ones in the car, then I open all four windows as wide as possible. The power can be controlled by accelerating to get more air and vice versa. It gets a bit loud and I have to turn the music up to 38 (it is usually at 25) to hear it, but it is necessary to avoid my spontaneous combustion. The main issue however, is when I park the car it takes ten minutes to shut them all and make the car thief proof.
The drive South went through loads of small towns, including a random one straight out of Denmark called Dannevirke. Like every town in NZ, keen to differentiate itself from anywhere else and make itself stand out, the place seemed to be home to some actual vikings. I would say that it is an example of some very obvious settlement history.
I stopped off at the very exciting sounding Greytown. Uninspiring as its name is, Greytown is home to the best pie I have ever eaten, not just in NZ, but ever. I bought from a place called Main Street Deli, it was a Wild Pig Pie, they also had venison, beef, lamb too, but I went for the boar. I had ate it cold, in my car, but it was still amazing. It had the perfect ratio of meat to vegetables, both of which were flavoured to perfection. The pastry was the perfect thickness and was neither too dry nor soggy.
Here is a picture of the unassuming but delicious article:
I can not give this pie enough praise.
Once I got to Wellington, something amazing happened. I drove through the city and to the hostel without making a single wrong turn or getting lost at all. This is unheard of with me driving in a city, and I don't think will ever happen again.
I went for another walk around the city, and I still don't like them.
Here is a picture of the Embassy Theatre, where the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings premiere's were held. They closed the main city centre street and had the big red carpet thing going on. Inside it is a very old-school Hollywood looking place with a marble floor, sweeping stairs and a very expensive looking bar.
Righto, I am going to head off now. Days 12 and onward will appear shortly.
With a long drive to Wellington ahead of me, I didn't have much time in Napier to see the town. I did go to the National Aquarium of New Zealand though. I love zoos and aquariums. In my experience no country does them as well as the UK, this one didn't buck the trend, but it was OK.
Here are a few of the characters who were splashing about. It is very difficult to take a picture through the wall of a tank. There are all sorts of reflection issues.
After the aquarium, I hit the road. There wasn't a cloud in the sky and I had a feeling that it was going to just keep on getting hotter. I was right. It got so hot.
The air conditioning in the Avenir is powerful (and noisy), but next to useless. On its coldest setting, the air coming in is still warm. So I put the back-up air-con on. To turn it on, I put all heavy objects on top of light ones in the car, then I open all four windows as wide as possible. The power can be controlled by accelerating to get more air and vice versa. It gets a bit loud and I have to turn the music up to 38 (it is usually at 25) to hear it, but it is necessary to avoid my spontaneous combustion. The main issue however, is when I park the car it takes ten minutes to shut them all and make the car thief proof.
The drive South went through loads of small towns, including a random one straight out of Denmark called Dannevirke. Like every town in NZ, keen to differentiate itself from anywhere else and make itself stand out, the place seemed to be home to some actual vikings. I would say that it is an example of some very obvious settlement history.
I stopped off at the very exciting sounding Greytown. Uninspiring as its name is, Greytown is home to the best pie I have ever eaten, not just in NZ, but ever. I bought from a place called Main Street Deli, it was a Wild Pig Pie, they also had venison, beef, lamb too, but I went for the boar. I had ate it cold, in my car, but it was still amazing. It had the perfect ratio of meat to vegetables, both of which were flavoured to perfection. The pastry was the perfect thickness and was neither too dry nor soggy.
Here is a picture of the unassuming but delicious article:
I can not give this pie enough praise.
Once I got to Wellington, something amazing happened. I drove through the city and to the hostel without making a single wrong turn or getting lost at all. This is unheard of with me driving in a city, and I don't think will ever happen again.
I went for another walk around the city, and I still don't like them.
Here is a picture of the Embassy Theatre, where the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings premiere's were held. They closed the main city centre street and had the big red carpet thing going on. Inside it is a very old-school Hollywood looking place with a marble floor, sweeping stairs and a very expensive looking bar.
Righto, I am going to head off now. Days 12 and onward will appear shortly.
No comments:
Post a Comment