February 5, 2023
Hi Folks, Today is going to be a very important day for Carol, as we are planning to hook up with her brother Brian. The last time she met him was 6 years ago.The ship docked at the pier at around 7 AM . We were one of the first off the ship. The pier where we were docked is a secured area, therefore shuttle buses were available to drop us off in downtown Wellington. The shuttle bus dropped us off at the downtown location. Before we came to a stop, we already spotted Brian sitting on a bench waiting for us. After meeting and greeting Brian we walked over to his car. The plan was to experience a day in the life of Brian. After boarding the car we headed for the highway to take us out of town. The first town we past through was Featherston.We didn’t stop here but continued on towards Greytown. The road was rising rapidly as we were crossing a mountain range. I lost count on the amount of switch back corners we encountered. This made me think of the road into Tortilla Flats in Arizona with its 144 switch back corners. One of the first things we did in Greytown, was a visit to Brian’s favorite bakery Cafe/coffee shop.After having our coffees with some tasty pastries, we continued on to the airfield where Brian spends a great deal of his time. Brian is a caretaker at the local gliding club and the associated airfield. After showing us around , we were lucky enough to witness a couple of glider planes being pulled up into the air. Meanwhile,it was getting close to lunchtime, and we drove out to one of the wineries for lunch. The winery was named Pallister winery estate. We had a very nice lunch on the patio and obviously accompanied by some local wine. After this lunch we headed back towards Wellington.When we arrived back in Wellington, we decided to drive along the beach, till we ended up at Owhiro Bay. This was basically the end of the road and also the trailhead of a hiking trail following the shoreline. At the parking area of this trailhead we purchased coffees at a coffee truck which was set up in the parking lot We drunk our coffees sitting on a log by the beach. By the time we finished our coffees, it was nearly time to get back to our shuttle bus pickup point. After an emotional farewell to Brian and thanking him for being such a wonderful guide for the day, we boarded the shuttle bus back to the ship. Meanwhile it had become super windy outside. For the rest of the night we kept a low profile, also because the ship was swaying quite a bit.
“Every hundred feet the world changes” By – Roberto Bolanos.
Cheers
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