Deary me I'm not very good at this blogging thing...!!!

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Well I realise it's been rather too long since I last updated the blog and, as I'm sure you've all been hanging on the edge of your seats, unable to do anything at all, since the last installment I can only apologise for the long delay in getting this one to you!

I can't quite remember where I left off although I think it was in Taupo, following the intrepid Skydive experience (still a highlight of the trip!). So I'll start from there...

The day after the skydive I hopped on a bus and headed on down to Wellington, where the 'proper' travel commenced with my first hostel stay (I know, terrible that it took me nearly 2 weeks!). I arrived about 8:30pm and wandered down to a big hostel, Lodge in the City, where I'd booked in for a few nights. As hostels go it was a pretty nice place - great people and well set-up in terms of kitchen space, bedrooms etc. I got myself settled in for the night (by the time I'd sorted all my things out, found my room, had a was etc. it was nearly 10pm so bed was the only option after a 6 hour bus ride!!). Next day was the All Blacks victory parade through Wellington so I hooked up with a bunch of people in the hostel (2 english guys, one South African girl and an Irish girl) and we headed down to catch the action. Wellington was crazy - despite the rain, a great atmosphere (as I've come to expect of the Kiwis!) and although we were quite far back from the parade I managed to get photos of Brad Thorne and Richie McCaw (frustratingly, the one of Brad shows him holding up the Webb Ellis Cup but a silly person in front of me stuck his arm up at the crucial moment so you can't really see the cup. Brad is clear as day though!).

Got a glimpse of the others too - Graham Henry and Piri Weepu to name a couple of 'key' people - and got a blurry shot of a few of them (although jury's out on who's who in that one!).

Then we headed across to the cable car and took that up to Wellington's botanical gardens. In hindsight not the smartest idea given that it was raining and therefore the cloud over Wellington meant the views weren't really much to behold. But the rose garden and tropical gardens were lovely and, hey, I'm English and it was October so I felt right at home!!

We thought better of the walk back down so jumped on the cable car again and trotted across to Te Papa, the national museum (free!! Woo hoo!!). It's a huge place on 5 floors with sooo much stuff to see, and some interactive areas which adds some interest. Not to mention the giant squid. Enough to put anyone off swimming in the sea!!

After we'd dried off back at the hostel we grabbed some dinner and played some cards (a travel essential of course, and I was very popular for having a pack!). Then later on some pool during which I didn't disgrace myself entirely. By which I mean I only potted the white a handful of times. And the wrong ball even less than that. A success I think you'll agree (and I did have one storming round where everyone thought I'd been hustling them only to realise it was just the token 'fluke' before I became utterly rubbish again!).

The following day I released my inner geek with a Lord of the Rings location tour - only a half day of course, not a full day (that would just be excessive!). Turned out it was only me on it but the guide was awesome and we ended up chatting about all sorts of stuff (I KNEW a film degree would come in handy some time!), plus he was obviously very impressed with my knowledge of 'early Jackson' with references to 'Braindead' and 'Meet the Feebles' (sorry, these references will be lost on some of you but others of you will be 'kicking ass for the Lord' right there with me!). There were an amazing number of locations around Wellington used in the film - I'd thought it was mainly all done on the South Island but Wellington is hiding some little gems if you know where to look! So I had the token photos in various poses, including some with elf ears and sword. Personally I think a cape would have finished the look off nicely but unfortunately he didn't have one so the result is me standing in my jumper and jeans with pointy ears looking pensively into the distance (Leonie, Orlando's got nothing on me!).

The following day, continuing on much the same theme, I went across town to the Weta Cave to see where all the 'magic' happens. It's smaller than you'd think (and you can't go in the actual workshop due to confidentiality - methinks they'll be working feverishly on the Hobbit) but really cool with lots of miniatures from the whole Weta back-catalogue plus a free 20 minute screening which shows you all the behind the scenes stuff. Definitely worth a trip (I was sorely tempted to buy something but budgetary restrictions coupled with the likelihood of a model breaking in my bag as soon as I moved put paid to that idea!).

That afternoon I jumped on the Inter-Island ferry to Picton, leaving my new-found friends (and I don't mean the elves!) behind. They had offered me a ride round the South Island but given they had been in Wellington a week longer than planned due to a radiator hose blow-out which was still to be fixed, I respectfully declined and said I might catch up with them on their travels if our paths crossed. Would likely have been a fun road trip but I think stopping every 10 minutes to fill up the radiator might have got a bit tiresome. Plus, the South African girl, nice as she was, was already driving me mad (the car belonged to the English guys, bought at auction in Auckland, and they'd picked her up in Coromandel although I think were hoping she was going to find her own way from Wellington, but alas no!). So numerous hours in a questionable car with her might have left me unable to take responsibility for my own actions...!!

As this installment is quite long enough, I'll stop there and start another one shortly (time for you to all grab a brew....)
x

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