Wellington, New Zealand
From Napier, we wisely skipped the Intercity bus and flew to Wellington, primarily because we could not have got there in time if we took the bus. However, given our hairy trip from Rotorua to Napier, this was a good option, regardless. When I went to Wellington by myself 10 years before, I had an amazing time, as I did a city tour, visited two fancy restaurants ( Martin Bosley's Yacht Club Restaurant , now closed and The French Cafe , still open), checked out Cuba Street, shopped in the famous but now closed Kircaldie and Stains department store , visited the Maori museum, Te Papa , and went to a Split Enz concert. Fast forward to the trip with my family, well - they were not very adventurous and we hardly went past the doors of our downtown hotel. I did get them to take the Wellington Cable Car to the Wellington Botanic Gardens: Wellington, as well as being windy, is quite hilly, so you get magnificent views of the city from the botanic gardens: The botanic g...