I rang in the new year in Wellington, which is a fantastic place when the weather isn't abysmally raining. It's also the windiest city in the Southern Hemisphere, windy 173 days of the year and up to 60 kph (very windy).
It was clear out the night I got in, so me, Diede and Elias (from Taupo) walked down funky Cuba St, ate at a Malaysian place (first Asian meal here) and checked out some live music at a cool alleyway bar called Havana.
Unfortunately, the rest of Pt. 1 in Wellington was a straight downpour, meaning a lot of soggy clothes and indoor recreation. Luckily, there are a plethora of museums and galleries to visit in the city, the biggest one being Te Papa. It's like Science World meets art gallery meets historical museum and so on; you can literally spend a whole week there. There was even a section with some musical instruments, so the three of us sat with ukeleles for about 2 hours and tried to jam. We were doing pretty badly (momentary regret for not bringing my ukelele overseas), and amusingly a few dads who were supposed to look after their kids couldn't resist coming over and trying to show us how it was done. One Maori guy basically played a concert for us and all the kids; it was like music circle back in elementary school.
We met up with Frank and Marcie (also Taupo) and escaped from the rain by watching Tintin 3D on the big screen. Later that night, we went to a house where some other people from Taupo were staying, and proceeded to get a tiny party going. Kiwi vodka and coke = an interesting concoction. Our departure was perfectly timed, since a noise control cop showed up at the door right as we were leaving.
NYE came, and it was spent at a restaurant/bar called Southern Cross, fit with a live ragtime band and a bottle of free bubbly. This is where the missing Asian enzyme benefits for a change, since all I needed to get happy was my one glass of champagne! Suckers.
The moustaches came out shortly after we started drinking (thanks to Elias for the supply). We drank, we fondued, we got ragtime jiggy, I got dipped on the dance floor, and finally at 1am we burst forth onto the streets and strutted. We walked along Cuba St and wished all a happy new year. I got moustache happy and things escalated ..I started sticking my moustache onto window displays with Elias as a companion. We scampered up and down and across the streets looking for the next victim, me art director and he model.
The streets were all a-bustling, and to end our festivities we ate kebabs and headed back to someone's hostel. We tiredly attempted to play a drinking game but I bid them adieu after awhile and finally got into my own bed at 4am. The night certainly was incomparable to Christmas, but it was definitely one of the best New Year's I've had!
For the third wwoofing adventure I bussed up the Kapiti Coast to Te Horo (an hour from Welly) and joined Debbie and Clay's household with a fellow American wwoofer, Lora. We were lodged in a sweet caravan that became our cave. It was so refreshing to have someone else there going through the same experience and being of the same age group.
I'd say the experience was different from the first two farms. The couple was a bit younger and never bickered (huge relief on my part) and they had a 3 year old daughter, Mahala. At first me and Lora weren't sure about the dynamics of the place, but we figured they liked their own personal space and by the end we felt more like part of the family.
Oddly enough, this was the first farm I've been on that produced food only for the household and not for sale, and yet I worked harder in those 9 days than the other two for sure. I got to work on my lady guns by shoveling horse and donkey poo almost everyday and moving lots of heavy things. The worst jobs had to be carrying thorny blackberry branches and feeding the plants a mix of water and liquified fish guts. Stank for days after that!
That being said, there were a lot of upsides, including a trampoline and hammock, delicious food and dessert everyday (Debbie liked to bake), and the sweet animals that hung about the establishment. There were 2 dogs, Jack and Flo (Flo liked to walk with me into the house every morning and Jack liked to sit on everyone), a cat Oscar, and of course the horse and donkey aka Franny and Jenny, who were BFFs (best friends forever!). It was so cute, I always saw them standing on the big hill grazing close together. Debbie and Clay also took us on some small excursions to the beach nearby and a swimming hole, which were much appreciated.
All in all I'm glad I went, and so I arrived back in Wellington with stronger muscles and a higher sugar content in my body.
On Wednesday, Debbie dropped us off at the railway station so me and Lora could hitch a ride together. On the way over she told us a chilling story of how she almost got abducted while hitchhiking in Germany. That put us in a sober mood, however we still got a ride into the city from someone - but not before I made sure to stick my pepper spray in my pocket with Lora hissing to me "We're gonna die!" The ride was fine, but after Debbie's story I'm definitely only going to hitch with a companion.
Wellington pt. 2 definitely had sunnier skies, but stronger winds. I couchsurfed this time at Damien's place, who is French and has 5 roommates (1 UK, 4 Irish). My first couple days were spent going to the places that were closed during New Years, namely the vintage shops on Cuba St. Oh and I saw a man get arrested in front of a massage parlour.. maybe his huge pervy moustache gave him away. And of course I had to make up for all the lost time not eating out. Wellington's full of cafes and restaurants, but sadly there weren't enough meals to even scratch the surface.
The city also has various walkways and you can basically get panoramic views from all different corners and angles. The other day I ventured up Mt Victoria, which is 5 minutes away from the place where I'm couchsurfing, and climbed the hill armed with my music and a canopy of trees swaying above me. Almost got blown off the top!
On Friday night I went to the Fleet Foxes concert, which is what I came back to Welly for. Concerts here are apparently very prompt compared to Vancouver... so prompt that I missed the first half hour :( But it's fine, they were amazing and the venue was awesome too. It's not quite the same without a concert buddy though. Later that night I went back to the house and watched Top Gun with Damien's roommates and pigged out til late.
Finally, yesterday was a bluebird day + wind, so I took advantage and took a bus to Owhiro Bay to do the Red Rocks coastal walkway. To get to the entrance I had to walk past the town and its amazing beach. It's all part of a marine reserve, so I saw lots of people snorkeling to look at the tide pools and driving along the walkway to dive. The walkway was a long gravel road that goes for an hour with the beautiful coast on one side and the bushy hill on the other. Again, I had my tunes going and did it in an hour and a half, despite all the detours I took to "ooooh" and "ahhhh". The walkway winds past the red rocks and finally to Sinclair Bay, which is a fur seal colony. Apparently they're huge and people are advised to stay back. I recall the sign saying something like, "These seals eat eels, so why not a human thigh?" That oughta scare you off. Unfortunately for me, it was the wrong time of year to see any :(
Last night was another late night (so much uncharacteristic partying, right? You can tell I'm on vacation). Damien's roommates took me to a hat party off Cuba St. I borrowed a neon toque, which I got totally made fun of for because in British English it's called a beanie (total BS). It was a gathering of about 20, and everyone there was from the colonies (1 Kiwi, 1 Cdn, Brits and Irish). Mostly we played fun word drinking games and showed off our hats. I liked the Kiwi guy's shower cap. After the taxi ride home, we attempted to watch Spaceballs but failed miserably as everyone nodded off 20 minutes in, thus concluding a fun weekend.
Today it's time to say TTYL to the north island and finally embrace the south. I'm so looking forward to it! In a few hours I'll be en route via ferry to Picton, the first stop on the southern voyage. After that, I have no idea what I'm doing! But then again, isn't that the point?
Your food pictures make me miss living in a real city. Also, I now understand how you manage to stay skinny even though you eat like a Frat Boy. I think I am systematically regressing into your genetic makeup. (Meaning, I am too skinny.)
ReplyDeleteYou should be a travel writer and a gourmet writer too!
ReplyDeleteWaiting for your south island report.