Saturday, October 30, 2010
From Auckland to Wellington by train "overlander"
We had an all day travel by train. Not much different from our trains in India, but much cleaner. The two differences were that there was a cafe boggie (we just go, buy food and come back to our seats to eat it), and then in the back, there is a little lounge area with seats and a little coffee table in the middle. People can go and sit there for a while. They announce that nobody should 'hog' the place all day. The country sides were really beautiful. I am not satisfied with the photos taken from a moving train. We got out for lunch and then I took a couple of shots. There was snow in the mountain area seen from a distance. We reached Wellington around 7 in the morning, took a shuttle to the hotel and checked in. Hotel's name is Novotel. Internet connection is expensive - don't even ask me. Its outrageous that we are taking it. But, I don't want to be 'cut off' from everybody. Tomorrow we go sight seeing here and we leave for Christchurch on Nov 1st. IIt is really cold here - I had to wear my gloves. But, I saw some boys/girls (teenagers) all walking around in skimpy costumes. I guess they are celebrating Halloween.
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Have a nice time in Windy Wellington! I didn't get to spend much time there but it looked a lot like San Francisco. Hope you have a nice sunny day for the ferry trip!
ReplyDeleteHi mon, We just now came back to the hotel. Actually, there is not much to see here. We took the cable car, went to the top, there is a botanical garden there. Took some photos, then came down, walked around the city for a while. Looked for your shoes in 2-3 stores. They said probably this is not the season for those. May be its like USA, looking for winter shoes in summer doesn't do us any good. But, it sure is cold here. I even wore my thick gloves. As the sun came up, it got a little better - but the winds are Un-sahikkable.
ReplyDeleteAnother little note -
When we were at Auckland Museum, (where I got scared by the 'volcano news'), there was a locker area where we could put our bags and stuff (for ease of walking around without the heavy stuff). They costed a dollar, but when we took out our stuff, we get the dollar back. I had taken a locker and put my little bag in it. I had extra jacket, and other things in it. Anyway, as I was taking my bag back, there was another lady who took her stuff back. Her coin for the locker dropped down, but she didn't see it (or knew that she can take it back). I told her that she can take her coin. She thanked me and I told her "that will be 50 cents for me". We both laughed and went our separate ways. They, yesterday, early morning at the train station from Auckland, we met again. This time she was with another lady. This lady came and asked me if we were at the museum the day before and that I was the lady who helped her to get her dollar back. So we said hello again and they were on the train with us. Her friend was a 'mix' person. She said her parents were from Sri Lanka. Yesterday evening, we said goodbyes again and parted. This morning, up on the cable car - there they were again! How small is the world. She came over and said may be I should just give you 50 cents or till I give it to you we will keep meeting. This time we exchanged names and email id. Her name was Rebecca. The Sri Lankan lady was Santhi. So, we asked them where they were going next. So, she immediately asked us where we were going and we said Christchurch. She said may be we will meet again!
Last evening, we found another Indian Restaurants. As we were walking in, my phone rang and it was Chechi who was calling. So, I talked to her and afterwards when the waiter came to take the order, we started to talk to him in English. Then he says "Malayalathil paranjal mathi". He was a malayali and he had heard me talking to Chechi in malayalam. So, that was nice to meet him there. He is from Mavelikkara. He said there were a lot of malayalees here and they even have 2 malayali associations. He said Mukesh's ex-wife Sarita lives here with their 2 sons. :)
Such an interesting reading this is. How well you interact with total strangers and how well you write. I cant even think of words to comment on your blog. Enjoy your vacation and we will enjoy reading about it. Hi to AC.Now that I discovered your blog, I am going to be a regular visitor.
ReplyDeleteBTW, I love your profile pic. Hearty smile. AC looking very cool in the red sofa in the lounge.
ReplyDelete