Day 10

June 1. 1 pm. Decided to go to the Wairarapa region, just outside of Wellington and over the Rimutaka range. First stop was having lunch at a vineyard, Coney was the name of the place. For lunch I had a really nice lamb shank and the rest of the guys had cajun fish, fetuccini carbonara and some kind of chicken. I think we were all quite happy with our meals. After some wine tasting (which I skipped of course) we headed towards the Pinnacles. A rocky formation that has been filmed in two of Peter Jackson's movies. The most known one would be the Return of the King where Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas walk through the Valley of the Dead. From here, we headed towards Cape Palliser, which I think is the southern most tip of the North Island. On the way you can find seals lying almost on the road. There weren't that many since it's not that time of the year yet, but once we get into the thick of winter, the place will be full of seals. Once we spent some minutes with the seals, we headed to the lighthouse and took some quick snapshots. Then we drove toward Lake Ferry where I was promising the gang that we would find one of the best culinary experiences I've had in New Zealand. I think almost everybody who has gone to Lake Ferry has had the Fisherman's Plaetter. A huge assortment of delicacies from the sea served to you freshly in a nice old fashioned pub! Oh boy, were we in for a surprise.... the pub was transformed into a hotel and they don't serve the Fisherman's platter anymore. We had to conform to a meal in Martinborough. Meh.