Wellington and Wainuiomata, New Zealand

 On Thursday, we travelled into Wellington on the bus and met an old friend from Istanbul, Cetin, for lunch. Cetin and his wife, Genevieve, left Istanbul nearly four years ago, so we were delighted to be able to catch up with them here in NZ. We made arrangements to visit them in their home that evening for a meal and continued on to the Te Papa Museum. This museum celebrates the geological and natural environment of NZ, together with the history of the people that settled here.It is a fascinating museum with lots of interactive exhibits – and it is free!

That evening, we drove out to Wainuiomata to have dinner with Gen and Cetin where we were joined by Gen’s mother, whom we last saw at Gen and Cetin’s wedding in Canakkale! We had a lovely evening in their delightful home and we hope, one day, to be able to welcome them in return. Although, at present, we have no idea where that might be!


Today (Friday) we took the bus into Wellington again so that we could go up in the cable car and view the city from above (see photo left). We took one-way tickets so that we could walk down through the Botanical Gardens and the historic Bolton Street Cemetery back into the city. This evening David, Cherryl and I are going to the Super 14 rugby match between the Hurricanes and the Reds at the Cake Tin in Wellington!

This is David and Cherryl waiting for the match to start. The Hurricanes won 23 - 18 - most satisfying!