In the morning, we drove 2 hours, as we have gotten into the routine of driving for awhile then finding a great cafe and eating brunch. Today we stopped in Whanganui (they love those WH words that are pronounced FU). We girls are tasked with finding the restaurants and today's was great. The Mud Duck, not only did they have a great menu but also a great gift shop. We bought wooden ornaments as keepsakes.
Paraparaemu was our next stop. We have been having difficulty pronouncing many of the Moari's names for towns. Doug's and my friend, Enid, who lives in NZ had told us to pronounce the names phonetically except of course for "WU".
There had been a running joke about our lodging since we stayed in the 3 bedroom suite @ the Hyatt. Doug's joke was enjoy that cuz we'll be staying in Elliot's Motor Lodge soon. Well today was the day and we were pleasantly surprised. We checked in with Gary, the desk clerk who wasn't the normal NZ warm and fuzzy host but our rooms were big, clean and we all had spare beds in our rooms. I can't believe we didn't get any pics of Elliot's.
Our friends, Enid and Richard live outside of Wellington, not far from Paraparaemu and are the ones who encouraged us to spend more time in NZ than Australia. We are glad we took their advice. Doug & I originally met them in 2014 while cruising on Day Dreams in Canada on the Trent-Severn Canal Waterway. They had flown to the U.S. and purchased a yacht, Astral Sky to tour our country. We were buddy boating with Waterford and going the same route and direction as Enid & Richard so we saw them often along the canal and in Georgian Bay. Over the next few years, while they cruised the East Coast & Florida, we would reconnect with them. While planning our trip, Enid & I kept in touch through FB and email and she was looking forward to our visit but after all the years of postponements due to COVID, she ended up having a commitment she couldn't get out of with her son and family. They needed her. So, unfortunately, Enid had been called away to Australia to help with her Grandchildren. Richard shouldered the burden of taking care of all of us on his own. He showed up @ Elliots with a bottle of Champagne to toast our our trip to NZ. Richard then drove us to one of his favorite restaurants, Soprano's Italian and we all enjoyed a delicious dinner. After dinner, we walked across the street to the beach. It was a bit cool and windy but we did enjoy the sunset. We were very sorry to have missed Enid.
The next morning, we left Paraparaemu and continued south towards Wellington. Our first detour was to drive to Enid & Richard's home in Plimmerton, which was quite a challenge for Craig and a bit stressful for all of us. It was a wee bit of a white knuckle drive through narrow, curvy roads with sharp turns to reach their house that sits on a high cliff over looking the Pacific Ocean. Thankfully, Craig got us there safely. The views from their home was breath taking with a 180 degree view of mountains, ocean and the South Island. Definitely a multi million dollar view! Their house is very cool with unique artwork and interesting features. The house is about 3,000 sq. ft. with multi levels and sits on about an acre of multi level land as well.
For the rest of the day, Richard took over the driving thankfully, which gave Craig a break. He toured us through some amazing mountains and valleys. The roads continued to be quite narrow with sheer drop offs and lots of curves. We ended up in the charming town of Martinborough. There were many wineries to choose from but first we stopped to see Stonehenge-Aotearoa, which is New Zealand's version. Aotearoa, is the Maori name for New Zealand. Stonehenge was interesting, when we stood in the middle on the compass rose and talked or clapped, it echoed all around us.
The town of Martinborough gave us a touch of home. They had an "Ohio" Street and a Route 53 which ended in Martinborough. We girls did a little shopping and then we picked Cambridge Road Winery to quench our thirst and ease our stress from the drive. Their grape vines were heavy with white grapes not quite ripe. After enjoying some local wine, Richard drove us back to his house and we loaded our suitcases back in our KIA Carnival. Craig got back behind the wheel and we careened safely down the mountain to Downtown Wellington.
Our accommodations for the night were @ City Life Wellington Hotel right in the heart of the bustling big city. Parking was quite interesting, there is not much flat real estate and the parking spaces are not made for large vehicles. But the guys managed just fine. C&C and J&J shared a 2 bedroom/2 bath suite and we had our own room. The rooms were large, bright and clean. Richard obviously enjoyed our company because he hopped on a train in Plimmerton and met us @ our hotel. Jerry O wanted to try the NZ Green Lipped Mussels he had heard about so Richard took us to a Belgium Pub called Leuven famous for Mussels. Doug & I didn't like our meals but we had fun and the waiters were great. We have had excellent food our whole trip and everyone else enjoyed their meal here. We gave hugs & said our Good-byes to Richard. He went to the train station and we to our hotel. We did laundry.
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