Wanganui and why we're here - 1 March

It was great getting into the car today and to look forward to driving as we hadn't driven at all yesterday and not too much the day before. Before leaving Wellington proper we drove up to a lookout at the top of Mt Victoria that provided great views all around. We then followed a 16 or so mile scenic drive along part of the coastline, parts of which are home to various varieties of penguin but of course as it was day time we didn't see any as they spend the day in the sea feeding.

We then turned our attention to the drive to Wanganui, the first several miles of which were on the only motorway we've come across. The difference in geology of North Island was immediately apparent as it was less mountainous but still a good variety of scenery along our route. We passed through a settlement called Foxton but I don't think there's any connection with Bruce Foxton, the bassist of The Jam!

We crossed the wide Wanganui river and found out motel easily. On arriving, we were given the sad news that the owner, Paul, had passed away only the previous Friday (today is Tuesday) but they were still accommodating us even though other people had been moved to other motels. It transpired that Paul was only 55 years old and died very unexpectedly and this really emphasises the whole reason why we started doing these big trips back in 2007 with Canada - live for today as you never know what might be around the corner.

After we had checked in we walked to Durie Hill, where after walking along a 200 metre Tunnel you get in to a manned elevator that's been in operation since 1919, where you're whisked to the top for just 2 dollars each. At the top there's the tall tower in the photo, erected in memory of those from the local area who fell in The Great War. We climbed the 176 steps to the top for amazing views of the surrounding area, we could see a long way as, once again, we had been blessed with a dry, warm day.

After this we had a stroll around the town and discovered the velodrome pictured below, shame I left my bike at home.