Miramar Peninsula

The weather forecast was fine, so we set off on a trip to the Miramar peninsula – the bit of Welllington that has the airport and some nice residential areas. Whilst waiting for the bus I noticed this building:

And wondered which was the greater act of vandalism – the blue “tags” on the third floor, or the use to which it has now been put.

We took the Number 2 bus, decorated with the Sistine Chapel on its ceiling.

We got off at Darlington Road, then walked over the hill to the beach in Worser Bay. Worser than what? I wondered. Apparently it’s named after the weather predictions of one James Heberly, a 19^th century master mariner, who frequently predicted “worser” weather. On the wooded hillside we spotted tuis and fantails, but unfortunately none of them would stay still long enough for me to take a decent picture of them; here’s one taken by someone else:

A Fantail

Fantails are a highly regarded bird in NZ, especially on the South Island, as they make a habit of eating sandflies. Anyone who’s been bitten by a sandfly will appreciate this fact.

Worser Bay was pretty much deserted, although I’m sure it gets a lot busier in the summer. There were quite a few people out on the water in Laser yachts. The road leads into Seatoun, where we stopped for lunch at Zak’s Café http://www.zakscafe.co.nz/ . As the weather hadn’t turned out entirely as predicted, we then hopped on the bus and headed back into town.