Road Trip to Wellington, New Zealand January 2, 2011

January 2, 2011 - our roadtrip from Hastings to Wellington...

We left Hastings rather early, there was no usual traffic we encounter going out of the city, here, you just hop in your car and go... This was our first trip here so we are enjoying the countryside sceneries, farms and hillsides dotted by pine trees planted by landowners to mark the boundaries of their land, this was also my sister's first trip out of Hastings, altho she's been driving in and around Hastings, the furthest trip she has taken was only to Napier which was a 30 min ride away... 

since this was going to be a 6 hour road trip, we decided to stop by a smaller town called Waipawa, there we had breakfast at McDonalds... we were curious the subtle differences in the menu, perhaps the most eye opening is the prices are almost double how much we pay for the same hamburger in California... Sorry guys, just can't get over the high prices of food, one sit down brunch cost almost $60USD (practically $20 per person)..

After we came out of the very winding roads after passing all the dense forest of Whaka, we were greeted by this scenic beauty of Wellington on our way to the Hotel.

Houses dotted the horizon above the sea level... almost like driving to San Diego on Pacific Coast hwy.

The landscape was green and serene... not the usual city hustle and bustle traffic which is what I was expecting, instead we travelled all the kilometers (miles) on a 2 lane hwy and very seldom do you see congestions and traffic buildup...

We arrived at Hotel Ibis, in downtown Wellington, as in most city, traffic was a clockwork of one way streets and again, all driving  on the left hand side of the streets...

My sister and Sandy relieved to get out of the car after 6 hours of traveling, the city seemed almost empty...kept forgetting this was their holidays and no one works...

At the Hotel lobby, I was greeted by a very common sight in New Zealand, the All Blacks Rugby team (champions), this fully authographed picture mural was prominently displayed for every guest to see...