Lodging: Bolton Hotel, Wellington
Date During Trip: July 3, 2017
Today was a long driving day from Rotorua to Wellington. It began by seeing a young guy, who I thought was our proprietor Mike, jump into the lake, with his dog, at the end of pier in front of our room. He got in and then immediately got out. Total time was less than a minute. It had to be freezing! He then got in the hot tub. Turns out this was the morning ritual for the neighbor next door.
After breakfast we loaded up the car and headed out. This was a long drive day–long! Again, thank goodness for the Navigon app.
We stopped at one place to use the toilet. When I went in, I asked, “Where is your toilet?” To which the female proprietor curtly responded, “First, ‘May I please use your toilet?’, and it’s up the steps, through the glass doors turn left on the outside.” I guess I broke the rules of politeness in New Zealand and confirmed her “rude Americans” opinions.
When Steve went in to pay for the gas, she made him first move the car away from the pump and to a parking place before she would accept payment. Then she went into a tirade about not accepting American Express as her expression of opposition to Trump. She ranted about her hatred of the man. Okay, there. She was venting her disdain for our electing the fool.
The fact that we certainly had no part in it didn’t seem to appease her anger in the least. She was livid, and, as Americans, we were to blame for the shameful election, regardless. Wow! I thought it interesting that the Kiwi’s have a very strong personal identity with the politics of the United States. As time would tell, she was far from the only one.
We had several scenic views but no good places to stop to take pictures of them. Geothermal activity abounds en route. We had lunch at a Subway sandwich shop. Several cars of older men arrived immediately after us. They were affiliated somehow.
We neared Wellington near sunset. The drive just before entering the city was along a lovely coastal area. Scenic views.
The Boulton Hotel is very nice and has fabulous pillows—the best hotel pillows I’ve ever experienced! The hotel had laundry facilities in the room, in the kitchenette. Thank goodness! I needed to do laundry. We also got a cool funky fan with no moving parts.
We walked down to the wharf for dinner at the Crab Shack. I had some fried rectangles of mac and cheese with a variant of cocktail style sauce and some clam chowder. It was all very good.
Sorry to disappoint, but I only took the one picture today. Kinda of weird, I know!
OTHER 2017 NEW ZEALAND TRIP POSTS
For a synopsis of all of the posts from this 2017 trip to both the North and the South Islands of New Zealand, with links to each post, click here. The posts listed in the OTHER RELATED POSTS HERE @ TT.US (below) may include posts from our 2014 trip.