Windy Wellington
- Wellington
We arrived in Wellington about 2pm and as I had decided to leave my bus and stay on here for 3 nights I took it easy in the afternoon. After dinner, Claudia & I headed down to the hostel bar to meet some of the others, although we were on the coke’s as we were still feeling rough after ‘The Ring of Fire’. We didn’t stay out too late, the others all headed onto a club so I said my goodbyes the guys and Claudia & I headed to bed. It was strange waking up in an empty room again after being constantly surrounded by people since Auckland, but it was so nice not having to get up at stupid o’clock to catch the Kiwi bus! When I eventually got up (after about 12 hours of sleep!), it was a really sunny day, the first I’d seen since the States, so I went for a walk around the city. First impression was it was more like a European holiday destination than a city in New Zealand with apartments on a hill overlooking the harbour. Wellington was definately a nicer city than Auckland, with more shops, cafes & restaurants and a bigger city centre. I was able to do some shopping for warmer clothes, New Zealand was a lot colder than I expected and I knew the South Island would definately be even colder! The weather in Wellington didn’t stay nice for long, it began to rain and get mega windy so after grabbing a bite for lunch I went to the Museum of New Zealand, Te Papa. There was a small exhibtion on how the Scots came to settle on the islands which was quite interesting and included some videos showing the Kiwi’s celebrating Burns Night and St Andrews Day with traditional Scottish dance and food. That evening I stayed in my dorm (which I had all to myself!), and started reading my new book ‘The Other Boleyn Girl’. It was so nice to relax and not have to be anywhere for a change. The next morning I went out for a walk along the harbour (in the wind!), and then set about doing some boring stuff like replying to emails and doing my laundry. Around half 2 another Kiwi Experience bus arrived, with my mate Matt who’d stayed on in River Valley to try to do the rafting, so we went to the Museum so he could have a look, and then met up with Chris & Justine, a couple who’d been on our bus since Mercury Bay and were staying with friends in Wellington. We stupidly stayed out till about 2am, even though me & Matt were up at 6am the next morning to catch the ferry to the South Island, but as it was out last night with Chris & Justine, we wanted to make it a good one! Getting up in the morning was hard work, I wasn’t very well and Matt almost slept in, but we made it and tried to catch some kip aboard the ferry!
Mhairi's Travel Blog 