Views from Mount Victoria

Mount Victoria is a 196m (643ft) peak that is basically in the middle of downtown Wellington, and therefore right off the harbour. Christophe and I started walking up and down some of the trails on it when the weather warmed up, and then sometimes throughout the summer, we hiked all the way to the top. There are multiple lookouts, so that you can see in every direction, to various views of the harbour and bays off of it, to the hills on the other side, etc. 

(Note: I actually took these pictures months ago, when it was still summer. For a while there, I was averaging more than one blog-worthy event per week, and so my posts were getting increasingly inaccurate chronologically. I think it's worth giving each one its own week, and now that I'm often at home studying te reo Māori (language) all week, I'll get back to posting about things right after they happen soon enough.)

The combination of the vibrant blue of the water and the deep red of the Pōhutakawa trees is wonderful. This is looking towards the middle of Wellington Harbour, with Matiu Island in the middle.

Here again is Evan's Bay, which I had been so confused by when I saw it from the Brooklyn wind turbine. It ends at the airport, which is that brown, house-less space between Evan's Bay and Lyall Bay, which is on the other side.

You can also see Moa Point sticking out and creating the division between Lyall Bay and Tarakena Bay (where we went swimming in December, at which point it became one of my favourites).

Here you can see the north end of Miramar, which sticks out into Wellington Harbour.

This, obviously, is looking towards the city. Isn't it beautiful? I love that we live in a beautiful city, surrounded by beautiful countryside (and mostly water).

And just out from the city, directly into the harbour.

Looking all the way across the harbour to the east, you can see the Rimutaka Range, which has peaks from 700 to 940m (2300 - 3080ft). We've never been there, but perhaps we should some day.

I feel like I am continually stressing the point that Wellington is surrounded by interconnected bodies of water. I don't think I will ever get used to that, but hopefully you can forgive me when you remember that I come from Kansas, where one is solidly surrounded by hundreds of miles of land. I mean, the closest significant body of water is Lake Michigan, which is 1015 km (630 miles) away! So being a water person, you can understand why Wellington's list of bays and harbours, let alone its intimate relationship with the ocean, is a source of deep satisfaction for me. And so Christophe and I hike to the top of Mount Victoria and appreciate it from all angles, and life is good.