March 8 - Wellington (Rest Day)

March 8. Odo reading 48860

Yesterday, 148 km. Today, I slept till 9:00, then had a leisurely breakfast with the rest of the late risers. David, Chris and Jim, Holger and I go for a walk. We visit the local BMW motorcycle dealer, and then the Harley dealership. There, I get suspenders for my rain pants. From there, we walk to Te Papa (our place), the NZ national museum. It's a delight, and we spend a quick four hours there. We then proceed towards the Cable cars, stopping to see the Americas Cup victory parade. All of downtown is there, it seems, and the ticker tape (imported from Australia) flies. After the parade passes, we have lunch at a downtown bistro, then ride the cable car up to the lookout over Wellington.

When we come back down, we split up. Holger goes to do more shopping, Chris and Jim want to find a Catholic church (It's Ash Wednesday - that means I missed Shrove Tuesday for pancakes!), and David and I slog back to the hotel. I check email again, and then go for a swim. The Austrians are in the sauna, au natural. Those wacky Europeans. After the swim, I work on the updates for yesterday.

I meet the other English speakers, and we go to the Green Parrot for supper. Delightful light groupa (fish). We return, and hang out in the hotel bar for a while, chatting with the staff. The rest of the tour arrives, and tell each other about our days. I head for my room, to do this update and go to bed. "Robocop" keeps me company on the TV.