Greetings from Windy Willington

Hi readers!

I'm writing to you from the foyer of The Museum Hotel in Wellington.  I'm sweatin' like a ... like a .... well, I don't know!  I'm just sweatin' big time into my new On Sale thermal from MacPac.  It is absolutely freezing here when the wind blows and then when you are out of the wind, you roast - as you also do when you come indoors.  Temp regulation is proving to be an "issue".  However, I have to tell you that is my only complaint about this wonderful place.  I love it!  Spud is still not convinced.  We arrived yesterday & easily found our way to the hotel by jumping onto the shuttle bus at the airport & coughing up $10 each for a 15 minute ride into the centre of town.  The hotel is right on the waterfront so is easily accessible for everything.  We've found a great place for coffee and had dinner there last night - The Lido.  Cheap & Cheerful all the way with delicious food.  I hope we get back there tonight.  I have, as you will be expecting, taken lots of food photos but unfortunately, I have no way of sending them to this computer as yet so... stay tuned!  I can't type for long as there are people waiting to use this computer. I will quickly tell you that today I ran along the waterfront this morning before Spu & I went to Te Papa, a fantastic museum.  We've done more walking along the harbour foreshore and then took the red cable car up to the Botanical Gardens where we had a wonderful view of the city.  We also found Perrott's Corner, where my great, great grandfather David Wighton had a lolly store back in the 1920's or so I think.  Unfortunately, it was completely ugly, with some hideous architecture.  However, there was a gorgeous little pub across the road called The General Practitioner, where we sipped a Monteith's beer and enjoyed the sunshine on our backs.  Tonight we are meeting our buddies S & P for dinner before crossing the Cook Strait tomorrow to start our outdoor adventure!  Luckily the rain is generally holding off.  I feel another person breathing down my neck for this machine.  It's like being a backpacker again!  Cheerio from The Land of the Long White Cloud.  Photos to follow - as well as more rip snorting yarns our wilderness adventure.