Yesterday I arrived in Wellington via Auckland. Safe and sound. This is home.
I was collected by my sons and we all gathered for a bakery lunch. We feasted on steak and cheese pies, deep fried lasagne squares, filled rolls and sausage rolls, doughnuts with cream and custard squares. Not necessarily in that order. All freshly baked and just fantastic. 
After a wee lie down we glammed up and went out to a very big Christmas Bash at St James theatre down in Courtney Place. Lots of champagne, hugs and meeting up with old friends. And now after waking up nice and early to the roar of lions and the polite remember-me cough of a big dog in the backyard, after attending to my obligatory headache, making a cup of tea and pulling a cardi over my nightie, after climbing back into bed with my computer, we are ready to begin our morning weblog posts again.
When we were tiredly tottering up the steps to my son’s house in the dead of night last night, then standing at the door waving the babysitters goodbye, I deeply inhaled the scent of New Zealand. While listening to the snuffles and creaks of the new baby. 
Every country has a particular scent. New Zealand is a small country in mass but it has a protruding backbone of high mountains and an extensive coastline. New Zealand has the tenth longest consecutive coastline in the world. 14,000 kilometres, (or 8,700 miles) of mostly rugged coastline along its small islands. It is about the size of California but with a tiny population of around four million people and completely surrounded by sea. It borders the more rambunctious Tasman Sea and the gentle Pacific Ocean so the scent of New Zealand is hugely influenced by the sea, open space and trees. There is a hint of salt, beaches, pine and hibiscus even when you cannot see a flower.
Our islands stand in the way of massive currents driven by the trade winds through the South Pacific and across the Tasman Sea that result in a constant tide of warm waters crashing up onto the coastline with a subtropical climate in tow. Because we are so tiny and these winds that drive the sea up to our coast divide and meet again on the other side of New Zealand we are blessed with a wonderful continuous re-freshening of the air by the sea.
New Zealand smells good.
Good morning. Wellington is the capitol of New Zealand and is at the bottom of the North Island. I will be here for a week or so. It is endlessly buffeted by these winds. I have always said that you know a Wellingtonian by the way their heads and shoulders are bent slightly forward all the time, their chins down, leaning into a wind, walking fast even on those few days when there is no wind. People in Wellington do not stroll about, they stride out at speed. But my youngest son lives in a little valley very close to the Wellington Zoo. We are able to duck our heads down below the winds here, and today I shall go out and sit on the steps in the deck, with my cup of tea, camera and paper and pen and just enjoy that wondrous scent of a clean New Zealand, and listen to the lions. As our only native mammals are a bat and a tiny fat pig called a kunekune, you can imagine how incongruous that sentence really is.
Have a lovely day.
celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
75 responses to “New Zealand Travel”
Hooray! She’s landed and the new posts begin 🙂
You must be so thrilled to finally be there! I don’t know that I’d like those winds. I happen to like strolling. Have a great day Celi!
We will stroll when we get a wee bit further up the island, it is beautiful here though.. c
Yea! I missed you! So glad you’re in safe. Thank you for the scent of New Zealand. I would love to wake to the distant roar of lions, a beautiful baby, and tiny, fat pig. Looking forward to photos – take lots!
I do miss my fat pigs.. c
I miss your pigs already too!
Welcome home! Lions!! OMG!
It’s funny – the first thing I notice – whenever I’ve been away and am back – is the way NZ smells – clean, fresh, newly rinsed and air dried. And our colours are fresh and bright. Have a wonderful time in my favourite city XO
now we are in the same time zone!! what a thing.. c
There is nothing nicer than Wellington on a good day. The sun shinning on the harbour.
True and as i read your comment the sun came out, I need to get down to the sea today.. c
What a sweet little face that is!
so glad you’re there, safe and sound!
I love the idea of arriving home and feasting on pies – it sounds very Billy Bunter 🙂
I love Pies! The boys knew this is what I missed! c
So glad you arrived safe and sound. We’re so excited for your descriptions and stories! I would love to visit there someday, so you are a gateway, you know.
It is a beautiful place to visit.. I hope I can do it justice.. c
Delightful to hear from you again, Celi. I’m glad that you had a safe flight and are ready for the treats that await…have a special, wonderful time.
Beautiful! Thank you for the lesson in geography! And for explaining how you awoke to the roar of a lion 😉
So glad you woke up & posted your blog! It’s already 3PM Saturday by me. But wait – it must already be tomorrow by you – ???
Oh my – jet lag has me SO confused.
I am just as confused unless i look at my watch i have no idea what the time is c
Wonderful!
Will you ever come home again? I don’t think I would. It sounds lovely!
I look forward to going through the zoo, maybe I will find some pacific turtles for you.. c
You know how much I would love that!
New Zealanders sound like Cornishj trees bend by the wind! That is one gorgeous baby,
Pep talk: if you continue to eat like that in NZ neither your farmy friends nor we will recognise you when you get home. (I’m smug, as I lost 2 kilos in hospital)
Drat: Cornish.
Glad to read you’ve made it, Celi, and that Grandbaby of yours is about as cute as could be. I never made it to New Zealand. I know, my bad. I do know about the current, though. I saw “Finding Nemo.” 🙂