Wellington/Waikanae Beach (until Christmas) - Part 1

Bike:

During my first 10 days in Wellington I  looked for a bike. I visited a lot of bike shops and test rode a number of  different bikes.

Then I bought an Avanti Montari 29.3 . (See  www.avantibikes.com/nz/bikes/mountain/cross-country/montari-29-3/  ). It’s a Mountain bike with 29 inch wheels. The normal wheelsize of mountain bikes is 26 inches.  The bigger wheels make the bike faster.

 

 

Biketours:

My first bike tour with Jo, . She rode her road bike and I was on her mountain bike.  We started in downtown Wellington, then rode to Kelburn, Karori West, Makara Beach, Johnsonville and back to Wellington.  It was a total of 44 km on road. She was much faster then me. After that ride I was totally outpowered. 

On my new bike I explored the region. In and around Wellington there are a lot tracks for mountain bikes.  Some are very different and dangerous and often I had to push the bike, because the incline is too extreme and the ground was too difficult to get any grip.  On the tours I had a lot of great lookouts. I rode around the Bay to the East harbour Regional Park and the Parangarahu Lakes Area. I rounded Evans Bay and explored the South Coast.

 

We started one day from the Beach House at Waikanae Beach south to Plimmerton and Mana and back via the Paekakariki Hill Road.  It was an up and down loop totalling 88 km, with the best part being the Queen Elisabeth Park, which has very nice tracks. The park is located  south of Paraparaumu.

 

English language:

Because I’m not a fluent speaker or writer, I looked for an english language school in Wellington. Since 26.11.2012 I’m a student again at the ETC – English Teaching College, www.edusearch.co.nz/provider.php?post_provider_id=0000009785&edusearch=739b and  have just completed 3 weeks of English lessons, every day from Monday to Friday from 9.00 to 12.00. Probably I’ll go in January again to the College.

 

Bank account:

With Jo together I have now a New Zealand bank account at the TSB Bank. Money is always welcome. For bank transfer ask me for the account number!

 

Cinemas:

In the last weeks I saw “Skyfall” and “The Hobbit”. By the way the World Premiere of “The Hobbit” was held here in Wellington with a lot of promenading of the actors on a red carpet and live music.

 

Visitors:

Unbelievable but true: Achim from the catamaran “Knulp” visited us with Wolmoet from Bonaire. Achim sailed together with me from Holland to Falmouth/England, where I left the boat. Achim sailed on Knulp to the Canarian Islands, changed the boat and sailed on a British sailing yacht  in the last year to the Capverdian Islands, across the Atlantic to the Caribean Islands, to Panama and then on the Pacific until Rarotonga.

 

High Society:

I accompanied Jo to a ball at the Wellington Town Hall. I looked like a penguin, or better still – James Bond!