Absolutely Positively Wellington

The motto of this town is "Absolutely Positively Wellington." And I think it really does live up to that. So far everything from the weather, views, landscape, food, people... have all been very positive and lovely. Very quickly we found a nice home to rent. It has four bedrooms. Each girl gets her own room, which they were happy about. The house was above our price range, but the manager didn't hesitate to give it to us at a price within our budget. The home as amazing views of the Wellington Bay. And its walking distance from the beach and a gelato shop. I can already imagine how we will be spend our summers.

Speaking of summer, its winter here. It was weird to fly into winter from leaving sunny summery CA.  Our first 3 days here were pretty rainy and windy. I can totally see why they call it "Windy Welly." The wind is powerful and loud here. As we were running from our car to the church building Lucy nearly blew over from a strong gust. I had to hold her tight. I thought it was quite funny and amazing to feel the intensity of the wind. At church I asked a boy in Lucy's class if it is always windy here and he said, "Not 1% of the time." I liked his response, but I have found it to be incorrect. Mostly our days have been calm, sunny and beautiful. It feels much like winter in the SF Bay area.

View of the city from the Cable Car Museum

Daffodils and a cute kid at the botanical gardens.

 The food here is delicious and continues to impress. Wellington has heaps (meaning a lot) of cafes and restaurants. Nearly every other business is a restaurant. As were go out and about each day discovering the city we always manage to find a bakery and get awesome treats.

Another amazing meal.

 Wellington is totally a walkable city. On foot we can get nearly everywhere in a short amount of time. Our Eva lead us to Eva Street. I love the way they decorated it. On a side note, Eva seems to be a very popular name here. Nearly everyday we overhear of another girl with that name.

Our famous Eva at the famous Eva Street. 

 The vegetation similar to forests on the SF Peninsula, but more lush and green. We spent Saturday afternoon hiking to Mount Victoria. It was a steep hike and just when we thought we had reached the top the trail keep on going up. There were great views from the top, so it was worth the climb. Near Mount Victoria is were a scene from Lord of the Rings what filmed. We think we found the location.

Looking for Hobbits near the movie site for Lord of the Rings.

Last Friday we went car shopping. We needed a car that could comfortably fit our girls plus have room for grandma and grandpa, who we hope will come and visit. Minivans are hard to come by and expensive. Plus, petrol (gas) is more expensive here, so we wanted to find a smaller car. We feel very satisfied with the car we bought. It is a Honda Stream. It fits 7 with 3 rows of seats. Plus, the back seats will fold flat so we can haul things. I really like the car. Sadly, they don't sell this kind of car in the states, or I think I would buy one.

A view of the inside of our new car. Just think of all the junk I can haul in this.

I have been so pleased with every place we have visited. The Te Papa National Museum is amazing. It's larger-than-life exhibits are so well done and interactive. They really take pride in their history and culture. We visited the zoo this week. I was surprised with how excited I was to see a kiwi. It was so cute! It looked like a little fuzz ball poking away in the dirt. I was again surprised with how much I loved petting the kangaroos. I thought they would feel rough and be aggressive. But, it was so soft and gentle.

It was so amazing to pet a kangaroo. It was so gentle and soft. 

That's enough "Absolutely Positive" things about Wellington for now. I'll share more later.