Chris, Joe, and I headed down south for an extended weekend in Wellington.  Chris was invited to give a paper at a local uni, and it seemed like a great opportunity for us to see New Zealand’s capitol city while also getting in a practice-run vacation with Joe.  I was worried about how he’d do on the flights there and back.  I shouldn’t have…

Joe slept, well, like a baby!  He did so well.

Chris had to go to the university fairly soon after arriving, so it was just Joe and me.  We got bundled up to brave New Zealand’s windy city and headed out on the town.

I love my sweet little guy!  He conked out within a few minutes of taking this photo.  He loves to sleep in the pram.

We walked down to Cuba Street and checked things out.

It was getting pretty chilly, so Joe and I headed back to the hotel to relax and warm up.

Chris was able to join us the next day.  We headed back to Cuba Street so that Chris could take a look around and get some coffee at Espressoholics.

Once Chris was appropriately caffeinated, I took him into a little store that I’d found the day prior…

Abstract Design was such a cool store.  I’d read about them somewhere once before.  I was chatting with the woman working inside and told her how much I liked their wares.  Turns out she makes everything there.  I ended up purchasing this wall art for the kitchen…

The woman told me that this is her 83-year-old auntie’s recipe for pavlova.  Must be good!

We walked a bit more and went to Te Papa Tongarewa/Museum of New Zealand.

I was so impressed with this museum!  For starters, it was completely free {not including the special exhibits – we didn’t go to any of those}.  We saw so many interesting things, and Chris, who normally isn’t interested in museums at all, was definitely enjoying himself.  I could hardly keep up with him!

This is a great museum for families.  Not only were there plenty of kids discovery/play areas, but they had some nice “parents room” facilities: comfy chairs for nursing, changing tables, a kitchen-style sink and bench {counter-top}, and a bottle/food warmer.  I was very impressed.

We had a lot of fun exploring the museum and the city.  We headed out the following morning for a bit more sight-seeing before our late afternoon flight.  We took one of the Wellington Cable Cars and visited the Wellington Botanic Gardens.

The views were amazing…

Kudos to Chris for doing most of the pram pushing.  Those hills are just as bad, if not worse, than the ones in Auckland!

It was such a great trip.  I’m glad that we finally got a chance to go!