We've been in Wellington since Monday, staying with Brenda and Sandy (also Jesse, as of Friday). They have a really great apartment right in the heart of things on Cuba Street, the ideal base for striking out into the metropolis in search of fun and games. Our guides took us for an evening quayside stroll, whisked us back to the 1930s for a cocktail at the Hawthorne Lounge, and generally overwhelmed us with their generous hospitality. In return, we ate all their carbohydrates.
We can report that Wellington has "choice" pubs and bars, and does a great line in chic little independent cafes and clothes shops. We love being back in the city, strolling around taking in the locals and all the sights and sounds. Eggs Florentine at Fidels was a particular culinary highlight, as was the Laksa from the Malaysian place just under the apartment. Oh yeah, and Debs says the sushi was top drawer as well.
So much niceness! We also hooked up with old friends Kate and Pep from Amsterdam with their cute kids Ana and Oscarsaurus (a wild and unpredictable animal, good at jumping). Seeing friends here makes us realize how much we miss our friends back home, and how sad it is when good friends move away from Amsterdam to the other side of the world... and then boom, here we are and hey how's it going, haven't seen you in ages, let's go out and muck about!
Friday night we went to the Sora Shima gig at Valve we both suddenly had an "OMFG this is the best thing, I'm totally stoked that we did this, and Wellington is brilliant!" moment. Admittedly we had drunk one or two beers by this stage and were feeling pretty giddy, what with being in a rock club and all, but this is a good thing. We are 86 days into our adventure and it feels like we just turned the corner from "long holiday" into "global travel adventure".
Prior to this we were enjoying NZ but not loving it. Suddenly, we are relaxed, happy being where we are, not worrying about where to go next, is there room at the campsite, what are we going to eat tonight, etc. >>> we have become travelers!
Either that or we just realized how much we love cities, and are about to embark on a month of damp, cold landscapes down South. We have thermal underwear, and have been warned to watch out for hippies.Tune in later to find out what happens...
Ben
