On Tuesday we flew to Wellington, New Zealand’s capital and the southernmost city on the North Island.  The only “interesting” matter about our flight is that NO ONE was ever asked for an ID.  You had to have a boarding pass but that was all Air New Zealand required.  Interesting…..

The Wellington Airport was attuned to the “Middle-Earth” promotion (the filming of J.R. Tokien’s books were filmed here) – see pictures below.  It was quite the display.

We spent the remaining part of the very rainy and very cold “spring” day discovering the charming capitol city.  The picturesque capitol hugs the ocean.  Unfortunately, due to the inclement weather, it was challenging to take pictures.  Our hotel room in downtown Wellington overlooked what is probably the ugliest national capital building anywhere.

Dinner at The Thistle Inn, a 175 year-old pub (2nd liquor license issued in NZ) near downtown Wellington, was great.  Once a month, the owner invites any musician to play in the bar for the evening.  Sometimes only one or two show up, Tuesday night brought  a sizable group of around ten or eleven individuals.  It was great fun listening to them sing and play their instruments; and, we even did a video (to follow)!