My Situation
Well here I am, lockdown in Wellington New Zealand on the Miramar Peninsular.
I guess I'm a lot luckier than many as I was visiting family when the lockdown came into force. So here I stay until things improve.
Good news, British Airways have been in touch regarding a refund of my ticket, this is not possible, however they have validated my ticket as an open return. This means I just call them when things are better, and flights start again to book my return flight home. “WELL DONE BA” many thanks,
All went well and my visit started well, visiting various Wellington land marks, museums etc. along with a few bike rides around the peninsular and into Wellington City.
Then on the Wednesday 25th March at 23.59 hrs, New Zealand went into Level 4 Lockdown. I was due to fly out on 26th March at 06.50 hrs. However, BA/Qantas had informed me on the 19th March via text message that this flight was now cancelled and I was rebooked on the 16.00 (local) flight out of Wellington. Oaky fine you might say, but this flight arrived in Sydney at 17.40 (local). The only problem with this was my connection on BA016 was scheduled to depart from Sydney at 16.30 (local) an hour and ten minutes before I would arrive in Sydney. Faced with the prospect of being stranded and having to self-isolate in Australia, we (Family + Me) decided the best option was to stay put.
Despite numerous attempts to contact BA on this matter via the phone number supplied I never got through, got close a couple of times then just got cut off. Guess I was just one of several thousand trying to call. In the end just gave up. But all is well regarding my return ticket now.
So that’s how I came to be here, in hindsight best choice all round I think.
PHOTO BLOG
In this section I plan to add photos when I'm out and about with a brief description of what I've been up to. Most recent activity will be at the top, so if you wish to start from the 26th February just scroll down. Hope you enjoy.
The above photo is a panoramic shot taken from the North end of the peninsular looking South the low cloud formation across the middle attracted me to take this shot.
N.B If your viewing my blog on your phone then you need to tap the bottom left-hand corner of each photo to see the explanation. If your viewing on your computer then just run your mouse over each photo.
Moai Statue
Finally back down at the beach, or did we take a wrong turn and end up on Easter Island? The Lyall Bay moai statue, gifted to Wellington by a former Chilean president. - 11/05/20
Walk to and up Mount Albert
Mount Albert 4X Track. Practice your mountain bike skills.- 11/05/20
Walk to and up Mount Albert
A resident of Mount Albert.- 11/05/20
Walk to and up Mount Albert
View towards the North from the top of Mount Albert. - 11/05/20
Walk to and up Mount Albert
View towards the East from the top of Mount Albert. - 11/05/20
Walk to and up Mount Albert
and a fairy. - 11/05/20
Walk to and up Mount Albert
A Fairy Front Doors. - 11/05/20
Walk to and up Mount Albert
A Fairy House, aka Scarlet Flycap or New Zealand Red Mushroom. Eat this and you will be flying for the rest of the day. - 11/05/20
Walk to and up Mount Albert
Turby King house - 11/05/20
Walk to and up Mount Albert
Turby King house - 11/05/20
Walk to and up Mount Albert
View from Turby King house - 11/05/20
Walk to and up Mount Albert
At the top of the hill we came to the mausoleum for Truby King and his wife Isabella he and his wife founded the Plunket Society after Lady Victoria Plunket, for the health of women in 1907. - 11/05/20
Walk to and up Mount Albert
The southern walkway for bikes and walkers, this short hill was equivalent to 25 flights of stairs. and nowhere near the mount yet - 11/05/20
Demolition Man
Project re-build started, old wall knocked down, we will start building a new fence here once Level 2 arrives on Thursday 14th May- 10/05/20
Seatoun Marine Parade
Kite Surfer out in force today. - 10/05/20
Seatoun Marine Parade
Kite Surfer picking up speed. - 10/05/20
Seatoun Marine Parade
Kite Surfer up, up and away. - 10/05/20
Beach Day
Very calm in the bay but a huge swell out in the ocean. - 09/05/20
Beach Day
Plenty of wildlife about enjoying the sun too. - 09/05/20
Beach Day
Took a stroll along the beach today found a quite spot and read a book sitting in the sunshine. - 09/05/20
Super Moon
Looked out of the window to see this fantasic moon or actually a Super Moon so my MoM tels me, the last one for this year. - 06/05/20
Rimutaka Range
In the top right of the photo, behind the first set of hills you can just make out snow on the Rimutaka Mountains. Winter is coming. A Mary Celeste moment. - 06/05/20
Calm after the Storm
So nice to be out and about again after 3 days of really strong winds and torrential rain. Look at this photo hard to believe.- 06/05/20
International Airpot
Walking along the road that leads to Wellington International Airport, struck me as to how quite this major road is and not a plane in sight. "A Mary Celeste moment." - 04/05/20
Wet Sunday Walk
Coming down the track from Palmer Head Fortress to Tarakena Bay, caught the end of this rainbow, just visable, before a huge downpour - 03/05/20
Fort Ballance (click)
Commanding views from Fort Ballance -South - 01/05/20
Fort Ballance (click)
Commanding views from Fort Ballance - North - 01/05/20
Fort Ballance (click)
The remains of this old fortification built as a principal coastal defence fort during the period 1885-1911 - 01/05/20
Worser Bay
Life-saving and Yacht Club. - 30/04/20
Stone Sreet Studios
View over Miramar with the exterior Green Screen (arrowed) used for filming many exterior CGI sequences - 30/04/20
North to South Island
Really clear day today, with the mountains on the South Island in view from Houghton Bay- 29/04/20
Shelly Bay
RNZAF- Flying boat Base WW-II - 28/04/20
Shelly Bay
RNZAF- Flying boat old docks - 28/04/20
Lyall Bay
This is normally a popular surfing bay, there has been no surfing now for 4 weeks. - 26/04/20
Gandalf
Caught up with Gandalf just outside the Roxy Cinema. - 24/04/20
Gandalf
Gandalf outside the Roxy. - 24/04/20
Gandalf on his travels
Gandalf seems to get further afield. - 24/04/20
Main Road
This is one of the main thoroughfares through Miramar usually busy on a Friday afternoon. - 24/04/20
Beach Art
Coming off the beach passed these garages with some local street art, the Gull is the town symbol of Seatoun I think. - 23/04/20
Beach Art
Came across these stones that local kids have been painting and placing amongst the rocks whilst lockdown - 23/04/20
Beach Art
Came across these stones that local kids have been painting and placing amongst the rocks whilst lockdown - 23/04/20
Coastal walk
Back around into Churchill Park Seatoun and the public sunbathing benches. - 22/04/20
Coastal walk
Oruaiti Pa 'Guardian of the Harbour' - 22/04/20
Coastal Walk
Then down pass Oruaiti Pa 'Guardian of the Harbour' - 22/04/20
Coastal Walk
and on up to the old WW1 6" gun emplacements - 22/04/20
Coastal walk via Pass of Branda
and on around the coastal path - 22/04/20
Calmer day today
Breaker Bay as it normally is, calm, compared to last week (15/04). - 21/04/20
Calmer day today
View to Point Dorset, much calmer than last week (15/04). - 21/04/20
Wildlife Day Today
Then came across this Yellow Admiral enjoying the sunshine. - 21/04/20
Wildlife Day Today
and down towards the water - 21/04/20
Wildlife Day Today
Across the track - 21/04/20
Wildlife Day Today
Whilst out and about today, this young White Faced Heron just stolled out of the bush in front of me. - 21/04/20
Wildlife Day
Walk along the track amongst the trees, the fallen trees are most likely from the last earthquake about 3/4 years ago rather than storm damage. - 21/04/20
Wellington Airport
Departure Board. - 18/04/20
Wellington Airport
Drop-off & Pick-up area under airport terminal. - 18/04/20
Walk home via airport
View of Wellington International Airport, nothing parked up on the apron or at the air-bridges.- 18/04/2020
Walk home via airport
View of Wellington International Airport, not a plane insight- 18/04/2020
Walk round to Moa Point
Looking back up at Magazine #3. - 18/04/2020
Walk round to Moa Point
Walked the beach around to Moa Point, spotted a Moa up on the hillside. - 18/04/2020
Track down to Tarakena Bay
A walk down to the Eastern Walkway Trail head, nearly down. - 18/04/2020
Track down to Tarakena Bay
A walk down to the Eastern Walkway Trail head, past the Atatürk Memorial in the distance. - 18/04/2020
Atatürk Memorial
Memorial to Mustafa KemMustafa Kemal Atatürk, the first president of the Republic of Turkey. It is located on a ridge above Tarakena Bay on the south coast of Wellington. - 18/04/2020
Magazine #3
Magazine #3 (palmer head fortress) - 18/04/2020
Eastern trail walk to Magazine #3
Walk through Strathmore Park and on up to Magazine #3 (palmer head fortress) - 18/04/2020
Down to the sea
Took a shortcut down to the beach.... walking down is fine it's the walk back up this hill that hurts. - 17/04/2020
Evening Walk
View west south west from Townsend Road across the airport to Lyall Bay as the sun is setting. - 16/04/2020
Stormy Day
Seatoun Marine Parade, after the storm. - 15/04/2020
Stormy Day
Seatoun Marine Parade, after the storm. - 15/04/2020
Stormy Day
View towards Point Dorset. - 15/04/2020
Stormy Day
View from Point Dorset across to Breaker Bay. A few properties had wet garages from the swell. - 15/04/2020
Stormy Day
Really strong southernly winds today with an unusually high swell. Quite unusual for Wellington - 15/04/2020
Walking/bike track
This is quite typical of the tracks I walk on around here. - 15/04/2020
Start of my walk
These are the steps I usually take at the start of most of my walks, they count as 21 flights of stairs on my Fitbit. Good cardio to start off with. - 15/04/2020
Start of my walk
Worth it when you come out at the top of the steps - 15/04/2020
New Post Box
Adam spent his birthday designing and building a new post box for the house. JOB WELL DONE. 13/04/2020
View north from Massey War Memorial
A view from the memeorial over towards Matiu/Somes Island the largest of three islands in the northern half of Wellington Harbour. - 11/04/2020
Massey War Memorial
We all walked up here today as there are also tracks that the children could explore. - 11/04/2020
Massey War Memorial
The Massey Memorial is the mausoleum of New Zealand Prime Minister William Massey, at Point Halswell on the Miramar Peninsula, as well as to all tose who fell in WW1. - 11/04/2020
Night Sky
Looking up at the night sky from the decking of the house. - 10/04/2020
Lego Coastguard
Ted built his Lego Coastguard ship this week so we took a photo and set it on the high seas. - 09/04/2020
Main Road
Cut up to the old prison than walked down Main Road, I think the house with the flat roof over looking the sea used to belong to Jonah Lomu - Cardiff Blues and All Blacks. Sad loss, a great person. View it here - 08/04/2020
Massey Road
Spotted this wondrful tree clinging to the rocks. - 08/04/2020
Scorching Bay
Dropped down onto the coast road today and walked up to North point of Miramar, this is one of the beaches I passed. - 08/04/2020
In the Suburbs’
Spotted this house whilst out and about, looks as if it has been built using recycled containers, cool. - 08/04/2020
Back up on by Fort Dorset
Over looking the entrace to Wellington Harbour with Pencarrow Head in the background. - 04/04/2020
Top Of the Hill
all downhill from here home. - 03/04/2020
End of the trail
Coming out onto Seatoun Beach, now just the walk over the hill home. Yes, that hill in the top left of photo - 03/04/2020
Beach Walk
You just never know what is around the next corner on a beack walk - 03/04/2020
Breaker Bay
Make a change to "Old People Crossing" - 03/04/2020
Fort Dorset
View across from Fort Dorset towards Breaker Bay - 03/04/2020
Beacon Hill Reserve Trail
Seems it was worth the climb up the hill, view as you come over the hill - 03/04/2020
Beacon Hill
Evening view over the airport towards Lyall Bay - 30/03/2020
Somebody's Birthday
A lockdown Birthday Cake for Rose. - 29/03/2020
Evening Walk Marine Parade Worser Bay
Sunset looking twords Camp Bay, Inter Island Ferry coming in - 24/03/2020
Martinborough Weekend
Back in Wellington, they even put the fountain on to welcome me back :-) - 15/03/2020
Martinborough Weekend
Heading back to Wellington, leaving the wide open spaces of - 15/03/2020
Martinborough Weekend
Night Sky from our airbnb rental- 14/03/2020
Martinborough Weekend
Woodside Railway Station end of 5K ride with the children. Picnic lunch then the 5K ride back to Greytwon.- 14/03/2020
Martinborough Weekend
Approaching Woodside Railway Station. - 14/03/2020
Martinborough Weekend
Greytown to Woodside track wildlife - 14/03/2020
Martinborough Weekend
Greytown to Woodside track - 14/03/2020
Martinborough Weekend
We ate her on our first eveing - 13/03/2020
Martinborough Weekend
We ate her on our first eveing - 13/03/2020
City Centre Bike Ride
Decided to ride into Wellington this afternoon, great ride in, different story riding back 32K headwind. Stopped off at Oriental Bay, a city beach. - 11/03/2020
Lord of the Rings
The Oscar won for Lord of the Rings on display at Roxy Cinema Miramar - 11/03/2020
Coffee-Time
Great coffee and scone at Roxy Cinema Miramar - 11/03/2020
Roxy Cinema
Roxy Cinema Miramar, a really great cinema, coffee shop and restaurant - 11/03/2020
Wellington Waterfront
Mac's Brew Bar, stop for lunch - 10/03/2020
The Hand
Central Wellington Art- 10/03/2020
Wellington Cable Car
Took a trip into the city today and a ride on the cable car. 05/03/20
View from the top
Great view of the city once you ride up on the cable car. - 05/03/20
Beach Day
Down at Worser Bay Life Saving Club Open Day. - 01/03.20
Wellington Airport
View as we turn and drop down into Wellington Airport. - 27/02/20
Sydney Harbour Bridge
As we turn out over the sea to make our final approach & land at SYD.- 27/02/20
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