Posted by We’ve just come home from a lovely weekend in Wellington. The coolest little capital in the world apparently. We went to spend the Easter long weekend with our first born. Annie is now a Wellingtonian, living in the capital as part of her first ‘real’ job. Wellington is the home of government for New Zealand and Annie has taken a role as a public servant with the Ministry of Primary Industries.
We took the opportunity to deliver a car to Annie for her use. It was one I bought with the money left by my mum and has been used by Annie and Molly for some time and affectionately referred to by them as the C Roller. Travelling by car enabled me to take Katie (the youngest of the tribe) for her first ever experience of New Zealand’s Cook Strait ferry adventure. This is a must do for all Kiwis and I had been keen to ensure Katie experienced it as a child. Katherine and Molly opted for the train journey to Picton from Christchurch (which is just as well as the car was filled to the brim with other items requested by Annie for her flat).
The road trip to Picton was fun and the ferry crossing was most enjoyable. It reminded me of so many earlier crossings as a boy myself. It always seemed so much longer and larger back then of course. The food is still rubbish, the service still surly and the absence of any decent seating still part and parcel of the experience.
We stayed at my older brother’s apartment in Thorndon. It is wonderfully located and central to pretty much anywhere.
Highlights of the weekend were visiting the Zealandia Eco Sanctuary . It is an incredible place of beauty and birdlife in the middle of the city.
A visit to Eastbourne was equally special. Katherine and I lived there with a much younger Annie and Molly. Annie started school in Eastbourne and we all have very fond memories of our time there. I have often wished we had stayed in that lovely part of New Zealand. It is a very special place and has strong similarities to Sumner (our home for the last 26 years). It is close to the ocean, has a lovely wee community and village and is only visited by locals during the week.
We visited our old house and Annie’s school. We even managed to set off the burglar alarm at the Catholic Church which we wanted to pop our head into. Someone had armed the alarm but had left the door unlocked. We all thought it a bit funny, bar Katie who wanted us to flee the premises.
We did a fair bit of walking, far too much eating (dinning out is part of the fun of holiday weekends) and an equal amount of relaxing and reading.
It was the first time that our wee dog, Bean, had been left at a boarding kennel. Katie and I dropped him at Shadow Estate Luxury Pet Resort on the Thursday evening and collected him this morning. He was very pleased to see us. He seems to have enjoyed his stay although is not sharing much of the experience with us so far.
All in all a lovely long weekend. We flew home and will now resume normality until heading to Dunedin for Annie’s graduation in May.
A Mathom House of Sorts 
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