When we got to Wellington we took a taxi to the hotel and checked in. For the rest of the afternoon we had a look round the town and visited the iSite to help in planning the rest of the visit.
When we checked in the hotel staff had said that we should be in the hotel lobby at 6.30 to meet up with the tour director. We went down and found a group which we approached, thinking it was ours. No. It was another tour. Nev, our tour director, and three other people were in a different part of the lobby, hidden behind a pillar. It was at this point that we discovered that the five of us were to be joining a tour group,which had already been together for a fortnight, touring the South Island. The dynamics involved in joining a group like this are not easy and we wouldn’t choose to do it again.
In the evening we went out to the Hummingbird restaurant where we had an excellent dinner, included as part of the tour package.