Rain, rain and rain again… Today, unfortunately, the weather has made a dent in our route planning on our way to Wellington… 🙁
Table of contents
The Tongariro Alpine Crossing
Actually we wanted to do the Tongariro Alpine Crossing in Tongariro National Park today. This trail through an active volcanic landscape with its Red Crater and the blue Emerald Lakes is in one direction 19.4 kilometers long and can be walked in one day. But when we got up, it was already raining in torrents and so a lot of the whole thing unfortunately into the water. Very bad!
Tongariro National Park is the fourth oldest national park in the world. In the centre of the park there are three active volcanic mountains: the Tongariro (1968 m), the Ngauruhoe (2291 m) and the Ruapehu (2797 m). The National Park is one of only 35 sites to be a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Tongariro Alpine Crossing is really the first activity in 117 days on a world tour that we couldn’t do as we had planned in advance. But since we had already booked the next hotel and especially the ferry to the South Island, we had nothing more than to skip this hike and continue to Wellington. But we have found some nice photos of other hikers, which we do not want to withhold from you.
Tongariro Alpine Crossing
Our Hotel Wellington
So we made our way from Turangi on the four-hour journey to Wellington, New Zealand’s capital, where we arrived in the afternoon. Since it rained quite heavily here, we simply postponed the sightseeing until the next day. We chose The Setup on Dixon hotel right in downtown Wellington.
We had a room out to the street and it was terribly noisy because the window wasn’t properly locked. Unfortunately we could not change to another room, as everything was fully booked. The room itself is simply furnished, but everything is there (water cooker, heating, fan). Everything was clean. Wi-Fi is free up to 500 MB, in addition you have to pay something. The Internet worked, but it wasn’t the fastest. The location of the property is great. Restaurants, bars and shops in the immediate vicinity. The hotel does not have its own parking. There are several public car parks within walking distance. On the road you can max. 2 hours parking for a fee.
Our room at The Setup on Dixon
Wellington’s place in the world’s place
Wellington, or Wellington City, has almost 200,000 inhabitants and is the capital of New Zealand. The town is located at the southern end of the North Island on the Tasman Sea and is named after Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington. The western part of the city is characterized by a mountain landscape, which culminates with the 537 meter high Outlook Hill at the southern tip. Despite all the adversity such as earthquakes, large fires and the winds that regularly blow in storm strength, the sparse settlement has developed into a thriving centre for imports and exports with a significant port since the 19th century. In 1865, Wellington officially became New Zealand’s capital and is now the country’s cultural centre. The city centre of Wellington is not very large and so everything is relatively close to each other and is easy to reach on foot. The most famous sights include the older New Zealand Parliament Building, the new Government Building (Beehive), the historic Wellington Cable Car, the Botanical Garden, the Old Government Building, the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, the National Library of New Zealand and Mount Victoria as one of the best vantage points in the city.
Pictures of Wellington
The view from Mount Victoria
The next morning we went first to Mount Victoria, from where you have a wonderful view of Wellington, the harbour and the bay.
The view from Mount Victoria
A walk through the city centre
Afterwards we went to the ferry terminal to drop off our rental car (see travel report car rental for New Zealand).
Since we still had some time until our ferry departed, we looked at the New Zealand Parliament building and government building. We also had a bit of time to walk across Civic Square and along the promenade.
In the afternoon we took the ferry from Wellington to the South Island to Picton.
The Starbucks Cup of Wellington
Seit einiger Zeit sammeln wir die Starbucks Tassen der Städte (City Mugs) und Inseln, die wir auf unseren Reisen besuchen. Die großen Tassen gibt es leider nicht von jeder Stadt, in der es auch eine Starbucks Filiale gibt. Aber wenn es eine solche Tasse gibt, dann finden wir diese ein wirklich schönes Andenken. Hierbei sammeln wir allerdings (fast) nur Städtetassen der 2008 erschienenen “Global Icon Serie”. Unsere komplette Sammlung könnt Ihr Euch hier ansehen: Starbucks – Unsere Tassensammlung der Global Icon SerieWellington has a Starbucks store and also its own cup 🙂
The Starbucks Cup of Wellington
Alle Reiseberichte aus Neuseeland
11 Tage lang haben wir Neuseeland von Norden nach Süden mit dem Mietwagen auf eigene Faust erkundet. Angefangen hat unsere Reise auf der Nordinsel in der Stadt Auckland, wir haben die gewaltigen Kräfte unter der Erde in Wai-O-Tapu und Orakei Korako erlebt, wir haben die Hauptstadt Wellington erkundet, sind über die Neuseeländischen Alpen gefahren, haben eine Gletscherwanderung auf dem Fox Gletscher gemacht, bevor wir zum Abschluss eine Fahrt durch das UNESCO-Weltnaturerbe Milford Sound erlebt haben. Neuseeland ist ein wirklich schönes Land, dass uns unglaublich gut gefallen hat.
» Nordinsel: Auckland – Ein Spaziergang durch die Innenstadt» Nordinsel: Waitomo - Eine Tour durch die Glühwürmchenhöhle
» Nordinsel: Die Stadt Rotorua & die Geothermalregion Wai-O-Tapu
» Nordinsel: Die Geothermalregion Orakei Korako
» Nordinsel: Das Tongariro Alpine Crossing & die Stadt Wellington
» Nordinsel / Südinsel: Picton - Mit der Fähre von der Nordinsel auf die Südinsel
» Südinsel: Der Abel Tasman Nationalpark - Bootstour & Wanderung
» Südinsel: Die Pancake Rocks & die Seelöwen am Cape Foulwind
» Südinsel: Der Franz-Josef-Gletscher im Westland-Nationalpark
» Südinsel: Der Fox-Gletscher - Mit dem Helikopter zur Eiswanderung
» Südinsel: Neuseeländische Alpen - Franz-Josef bis Milford Sound
» Südinsel: Milford Sound - Eine Bootsfahrt durch den Fjord
» Südinsel: Die Road to Milford Sound & die Stadt Queenstown