The walk then took us through the old cemetery, which was split in two when they built the new motorway through the city.
Our hosts had recommended a tour of the New Zealand Parliment, Sally works there as a PA for one of the new ministers. The tours run regularly and start in 'The Beehive', which is the executive part of the Parliament. It was a very interesting guided walk around the Government buildings, even going into the debating chamber. The New Zealanders were far more forward thinking than the Brits, as women had the vote here in 1893 - the first place in the world to give women the right to vote. The lady responsible for this was Kate Shepherd, and she is on their 10 dollar note. The guide told us that on the Pelican crossings outside the Parliament Building, the green for go signal for pedestrians is a caricature of her.
From a distance it just looks like any normal crossing signal...
But when you look closely it is more interesting
Back out into the sunlight (yes it's a beautiful day) and make our way to the waterfront again. Stroll the other way along the promenade this time, past some sculptures...
...cafés and parks as well as the museum, Te Papa. We are going to save that for later as it is too nice to be inside at the moment.
You can hire what they call a Crocodile bike, a bit like a pedal version of the Ford Model T. The maximum time you could have it for was only an hour so we decided to just walk instead. On to Oriental Bay, an artificially created sandy beach right near the downtown area, but they have done a much better job than was done with the Tarmac beach at home. There is also a fountain in the middle of the water in the bay.
Decide that feet need a dip in the ocean and make a foray onto the beach, taking shoes and socks off before walking along the beach through the shallows.
Then a sit down to let the toes dry out. It was a bit like sticky cars syndrome - we sat on an empty bit of beach and were soon surrounded by five or six groups of people.
As mentioned yesterday the houses here seem to stack themselves up on the hillside behind the beach. The photo below is an impressive example of how the various dwellings are jammed in, and of the individual funicular 'railway' for the houses.
How do they manage to transport their furniture into the house?
Continue walking along the waterfront, skirting around the edge of the headland and into another part of the bay. A bit quieter here, but also no more food shops etc. - will have to walk a bit further to find a late lunch. Keep on walking. 3.5km later we find a pleasant cafe where we sit outside eating our food whilst watching the planes come in to land at the airport, and also watching people sailing on their yachts.
As we didn't fancy a steep climb to get back to the other side of the headland, we returned along nearly the same route ( the sun was still shining).
We manage to fit in a short trip to the museum on the way back. Only for an hour, but some excellent displays that are very well laid out, and entered a mock-up of a small house to experience of what an earthquake might feel like, only nowhere near as bad as it would be really.
Over the Sea to Sky bridge
to the Civic Centre, which had some interesting sculptures around it.
Flagging a bit now, so it's back to the B&B to pack and prepare for our ferry journey tomorrow. A restorative cup of tea on the terrace was provided by the owners.
View from the balcony outside our room - you should just about be able to see the sea in the distance.