Reflections

Well, it's been just over a month since moving north. There's been both pros and cons with this process. We've taken a "suck it up" approach to being back in Wellington - probably will be here for 3-5 years so we'll just have to make the best of it.

Pros...
-Moore Wilson's selling Havana, Supreme & Peoples beans
-2 hours free parking in town. WCC finally clicked that to get people spending in town, you have to let them in...Perhaps if the public transport actually worked it would be more reasonable to limit car access into town!
-Kayaking on the inlet
-Working with some good people
-Exploring the local region e.g. the Pinnacles, Battle Hill Forest Park, Rimutaka Incline Rail Trail

Cons...
-The bloody weather. Such a big reason why we left. Only cracked 26 once since we arrived, at least we could enjoy this on the deck. Frequent rain. And the wind - relentless, frustrating and ruins your life. As always, enjoy Wellington "summer" in your car.
-Public transport. I love how Wellington goes on about how great this is. It's rubbish! Trains broken and never on time. Bus service is shocking - we're near a major bus route however each bus is nicknamed the "X not in service" as they never are! Sheesh.
-Pricing to attend events - even if the ticket price is reasonable, the additional cost for parking/transport/food etc means that you have to plan going to shows, events and games rather than be spontaneous
-Wellington drivers. They really are rubbish
-Feeling like we've never left/stepped back in time
-Being so far away from Central Otago
-Being more difficult to get out of town...and nowhere close nearby that's worth going to
-Local Lush being shut. Oh well, mail order it is...
-Intermittent success with the "wonderful" cafe culture

Perseverance, that's the key...

The Rose

P.S. Recent cafes...
Ruby's Cafe - located in Mana. Good parking, great coffee and excellent food. As a connoisseur of the triple shot, this will keep you buzzing for some time (I had two). Highly recommended.

Espresso Garden Cafe Petone - no idea how they do it, but the food and coffee at the Mitre 10 cafe in Lower Hutt is regularly very good. Every time. Really can't fault this place! Favourites are the omelette and eggs Montreal. Does cabinet and black board really well.

Scorch-o-Rama in Scorching Bay. Although the coffee was good, the serve was small compared to most other places. Location was good however far too small - although I'm sure 1 out of 365 days they can open the french doors to add some space. The cafe seemed not to know what it wanted to be - Gourmet? Cabinet? Vegetarian but add bacon? Food was too sweet for my palate. Can't see us hurrying back.

The way is shut...and the dead keep it

Instead of veging out and watching the last game (and dead rubber) of the Ashes, we thought we'd take a trip out to South Wairarapa to check out the Putangirua Pinnacles. This is the very cool site used in the Return of the King for the Paths of the Dead.

Unfortunately the drive out there was shocking - yet another reminder of why Wellington drivers are the worst of any city in NZ (breathe...)

Although the rest of the coast, including the lighthouse, was pretty boring, the Pinnacles was an excellent climb. Lots of cool rock formations to look at and clamber over!

Interesting that this is defined by DOC as an "easy" track - while the track is obvious (it's a stream bed), it's all uphill and you need to be sure-footed to get up and down. Plenty of people didn't make it to the top although it is worth the effort. Takes around 90mins return. Take plenty of water and something to nibble on the way home!























The Rose