A Days Excursion into Wellington

Monday 12th January 2015
It seemed a good idea. Catch the commuter train to Wellington getting in at 12 have lunch with  Nick and Shannon, and hour or so round town then back to Masterton for a relaxing evening with a Peak Brewery Beer by the riverside.
And by and large that is what transpired. It was a stunning day as we left camp and went to the Masterton rail station parking up under the trees, boarding with our $22 pp return tickets. We had to catch the mid morning trains to get the excursion pass which gave you almost unlimited travel on the trans metro rail network. The ride took 90 mins and took in a the Rimatuka tunnel - 9 minutes, (Sheryl closed her eyes and went to a happy place).Those from Nelson who rarely get to see trains let alone ride one, can

appreciate my excitement. Wellington's weather was not up to Mastertons so when we met Nick at the railway station (presumably so the oldies didn't get confused and lost) we opted for a meal at Mac's Brew Bar rather than Kebabs round the waterfront. On the way thru town we picked up Shannon from her work and went to lunch which was adequate. (won't mention the fish). It was good to catch the kids in their work clothes looking every bit the professionals they are.
We spent a short time in town doing retail therapy, without the purchases of course, then looked round Parliament buildings and the old Government buildings. Beautiful old building that are a testimony to the workmanship still around to keep up the repairs etc.
From there to the station is but across the road and home. The train was packed by the time we left the Wellington side stations at 4.20pm but emptied out at Featherston.
It was over 2 hrs back not sure why except we did crawl over the Upper Hutt bridge hit by the truck over that weekend (indeed the same bridge I thought we might leave our kayaks entangled with when we went under a few days earlier) . So returned to a pleasantly warm Masterton and the short trip back to our riverside spot to enjoy a Peak Brewery beer NOT. Leigh our skirt wearing friend from the next bus didn't get past the first sip. He had standards!
All in all a pleasant day with no ice cream on the top.