Wellington

We arrived in Wellington around 6:30 last night, after what was supposed to be a 12-hour train ride but ended up being a 6-hour train ride and a 6-hour bus ride. It really didn't make much of a difference to me, but then again, I'm tiny and can fit just about anywhere, unlike Mike, who's well over six feet and has difficulty fitting into some cars.
The scenery was beautiful, especially after we got out of Auckland--it started looking like the New Zealand photos/footage I've seen (no Hobbit holes, though. That's on the northern tip of the island, and tentatively on the schedule for later). Unfortunately, I can't put up photos, since I'm not on my laptop, but I took some rather good pictures for travleing at 50-100 KPH. There was a mountain, and lots of sheep.
We're leaving in about two hours for Masterton, which we're hoping is more like the scenery we passed on the way here, and less like the cities--they're interesting, but there isn't a terrible lot to delineate them from any other city anywhere else in the world (except for the modern architecture. They have every city I've ever seen beat hands down for the number of modern buildings). On the other hand, being out in the middle of a possible nowhere does mean I'm not as likely to have internet connection, so please just bear with me. I'll do everything I can.

m.