Day in the Big City

We've had an adventure, and traveled into Wellington City by train.  It was free courtesy of of our Gold Card, all seniors have free off peak travel on trains and buses.  But first we had to drive down to Waikanae, the commuter trains don't come any further up the line than that.  Being school holidays the train was quite busy, Mums and Grannies out with the kids.  We were shocked to hear an altercation as two  (male) pensioners boarded the train – rude words were exchanged, but luckily it didn't come to blows.  Really, at their age, they should know better!  And its always upsetting to witness bad behaviour.  The train takes an hour to travel from Waikanae to Wellington, a nice trip that goes through seven tunnels (I counted them), along the coast, stopping at small stations all the way. 

We had a couple of things to attend to in the big city, and then found a nice café for an early lunch.  Robin committed a faux pau when he asked the waitress with the lilting accent what part of Ireland she was from.  She’s from Scotland, she told him!  That’s rather like confusing a Kiwi with an Aussie, isn't it.  Luckily she wasn't too upset and we enjoyed our tasty lunches, savoury waffles for me, and a pulled pork burger for him.

Lunch time

It was a beautiful day and as we ate our lunch we people watched through the big windows.  The locals say, “You cant beat Wellington on a good day” and that’s so true.  The notorious Wellington wind was nowhere to be found, and there were plenty of young girls sporting bare legs and arms, and short skirts and dresses.  Showing just how warm it was.  After lunch we jumped on a big yellow double decker  bus to take us down towards the station, with one more job to do on the way.  No, we didn’t climb the stairs to the top, a bit hard on our knees and back these days.  But fun all the same.

Walking the last little way to the station, we stopped by the Beehive, our Parliament Buildings.  With the General Election coming up fast, I imagine that most of the MPs were out and about trying to drum up votes.

The Beehive

I’ve always loved the grandeur of Wellington Station (opened in 1937) and when I first started work as a 15 year old I traveled to and fro in the wooden  old carriages, pulled by a diesel engine.  In those days there were smoking and non smoking carriages, so I had to make sure I didn't get stuck with all the smokers.  Growing up in a smoking household, I couldn’t stand the smell of cigarettes. 

Wellington Railway Station

And there’s our train, on Platform 4, ready and waiting for us.

We chugged past Wellington Harbour, looking across at Eastbourne, it’s very expensive real estate around there.

Then into the first of the tunnels and we were on our way.  The views from the train are always quite different that traveling by road.  We passed close by the back of the Plimmerton NZMCA site, a place we have stayed at several times.  It’s always very popular, being close to the ferry terminal, for people coming and going.

Caravans and motor-homes at Plimmerton

It was a nice restful journey back to Waikanae, so restful that Robin nodded off and I had to awaken him.   We always enjoy train travel so we are sure to do it again sometime. Certainly beats trying to find parking in the big city.