Wellington and Paraparaumu

We awoke to the distant noises of the city waking up. Spending so many nights in rural New Zealand made normal city noises seem pretty strange. I still found the waking up in a parking lot in the touristy area of Wellington to be pretty surreal. I walked out and got coffee for Eli from the same cake cafe from the day before, got the kids up and dressed, and then we headed out to explore more of Wellington before we had to leave.

We found a huge park on the coast of the city that had grass, swings, typical monkey bar style things, and a slide almost 4 stories high. It was shaped like a lighthouse, and Charlie spent most of the morning climbing up by himself and sliding down over and over again. Henry enjoyed walking in the grass, Malcolm occasionally went to the smaller slides and the swings, and we enjoyed the warm sunshine the early summer provided.

We made a quick pit stop for chai and smoothies from a street vendor, and walked to the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, one of the largest museums in the country. They had amazing trees, birds, and interactive exhibits. We saw a replica of a blue whale's heart as well as microscopes the kids could use to see things around them close up.

After a quick (and pretty expensive) lunch at the museum cafe, we headed back to the RV, got everyone buckled in, and began the drive to Jared's, a friend of Eli's who happened to live in NZ. The drive to Paraparaumu was uneventful, though making our way through the city in a huge RV was definitely an experience.

We arrived in Jared's town early and played in a local park until he was done with work. When he got home, we headed over, and played in his enormous backyard, met his chickens (Malcolm got to feed them), tried out roller skates and ate delicious barbecued chicken and drank local white wine. We camped out in his driveway.