Skip to content

New Zealand Roadtrip: Henley Lake and Victorian Houses in Wellington

Henley Park, Masterton
Wellington Region, North Island, New Zealand
Travel Period: May 2018

We saw Henley Lake Park as we reach Masterton and thought we would do a quick stop to stretch our legs. We are on our way to Wellington, the capital of New Zealand.

After spending a cold night on the coast in Castlepoint in our campervan and waking up to one of the most beautiful places in the country and relishing every bit of our time spent there, it was time to be back on the road again.

We couldn’t miss Henley Lake. The pretty lake park is located on our route to Wellington via Masterton. 

I have read that the park is a bit old for NZ, going back to the early 1900s.

The map of the whole lake below shows a designated area for a barbeque! There were a few colour-coded walking trails that are good to do if we had enough time on our hands.

Looking at the map, I just realised now that the lake is a bit similar to the lake beside my (new) house, although the one here at home is a bit longer. 

The ducks here are more tamed…. they do not fly away when you are near.

Did you know that swans always go in pairs and that they form monogamous bonds for years? If not for life even?

We are late into autumn in NZ.

The town of Masteron in their busy main street.

We have left Masterton and are now on the winding and mountainous road to Wellington.

This part of the drive was a bit stressful because we were driving on hairpin roads on cliffs and the wind was picking up. The campervan is quite tall so we were worried about the van falling over to its side when the wind hits. It wasn’t a very nice drive at all but we had to go through it.

If you do not know, the southern part of New Zealand is very windy. Wellington is known as Windy Wellington for a valid reason and we are having a prelude of it.

The sister is ensuring us she is in control =)

Northland, Wellington
Wellington Region

And we have arrived in the capital city of New Zealand! Hello Wellington! Oh, some slight traffic indeed to welcome us in the city, hehe.

You can see the city center in the far distance.

We were trying to find our way to the city center and we got lost. Just a bit. But we enjoyed it as we were able to do some local houses sightseeing. We noticed that the houses were mostly in wood and some with a Victorian architecture influence. In fact, we made the most of it and drove around before going back to where our previous route when we entered the city.

This is in the Northland area, on the hills overlooking the city center.

Some of the houses were quite high and have a flight of stairs to get to the front door.

This is the tunnel going back to the coast on the route to the city center. We are going to stay in a city parking lot where campervans are allowed to stay overnight. We will, therefore, be spending out night sleeping in a parking lot, haha.

See you in Wellington…

Keep in touch and follow me on Facebook: Travel & Lifestyle Diaries by Jo Travels
Happy Travels! Enjoy Life =)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *