The Tragedy of Gallipoli

Saturday morning in Wellington is a beauty. The great weather continued with a predicted top of 28 and a light breeze even though we have heard so much about Windy Wellington. Breakfast, in my humble opinion, was the best so far. I had an omelet and it was as god as my good lady wife makes at home. I am well fortified for the morning ahead.

Dave took us for a drive round Wellington Harbour up to a lookout on Mount Victoria. The drive is very picturesque and the views from the lookout spectacular. From there, we descended through Newtown past the Basin Reserve back to the city and the Te Papa National Museum. The Basin Reserve was the venue for international cricket and it is tiny. Fair dinkum, my Nanna could have hit a six or two there.

We visited the Te Papa Museum for an exhibition on Gallipoli and

New Zealand’s participation in the ill fated invasion. It is based around the diaries and letters of seven Enzedders including a nurse who went to Gallipoli or in the case of the nurse, served on a hospital ship. There is a statue of each one in it’s own separate area. The statues are 2.4 times to scale and are so real, it is unbelievable. Things like hair are real and skin blemishes, wounds and even drops of sweat are so lifelike. The artefacts, photos, movies and writings surrounding each statue are fantastic. The exhibition was a something beyond my expectation and very worthwhile.

After leaving the museum, Dave drove us through the CBD pointing out points of interest and naturally the shopping opportunities. We have a free afternoon and I knew where Lesley and Joan were headed. After a freshen up at the hotel, lunch was our next priority as we all needed a feed. We settled on The Golden Arches following which, Ron and I left the girls to it.

We walked down too the harbour precinct to look for a restaurant for tonight’s dinner. There was quite a selection and amongst those was an Italian joint, Portofino. That looked ok so with the mission

accomplished, it was back to the hotel. Ron felt like a LLD and being Saturday arvo, I thought I would do something different and watch the races on TV. When I switched on the TV, I located Trackside on the Sky Pay TV. The 4 main Aussie meetings were on plus Trentham in Wellington . I was kicking myself because if I had known there were races on in Wellington, I might have been a starter.

Lesley arrived back about 3pm after the retail therapy and was happy with a top she had bought.. That was all so the damage was minimal. She did some washing and ironing before having a bit of a spell before dinner. It was Kelly’s bet for the syndicate and while I was watching, one of her bets duly saluted. She had quite a good deal more success and collected around $94 by the end of the day. Well done Kelly, I am not sure where you and Belinda get your ability to pick winners. It must be from your Mum.

Dinner at Portofino beckoned and the setting was great, a window table overlooking part of the harbour. We had a great time with plenty of laughs. Sadly, the meals were only average. After a walk along the harbour, we called it a night. Tomorrow we are crossing the Strait to the South Island at Picton and then driving to Christchurch. It will be another long day.