Wellington, Wanganui and Dim Sum

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Hello Dear Friends and Family,

(I started this Sunday morning. It's now Monday evening. But pretend it's Sunday, could ya?)

I am back here in Wellington where it's wet and grey and looking like winter. I came back last Wednesday but immediately left and went to visit friends in Wanganui which is southwest North Island. Remember Kirsty and Sam, my jewelry making friends in Piha (bought that lovely necklace from them)? Well they moved out to Wanganui to attend to some family property a month or two ago so I went for a visit. The town is very quaint nestled along a river a bit like Prague but without the castle (and the foreign language. Nor is it known for tasty beer and supermodels.). My friend's family home was very relaxing and I enjoyed their company plus met and spent some time with Kirsty's mom. They also have two new Siamese kittens that were loads of fun to play with and showed me lots of love. Interesting factiod: They were able to buy a house for $20K. Freaking amazing! That got a chance of a lifetime. The place needs some serious cosmetic surgery but it has great bones. They reckon (cause that's what they do in NZ) that the land alone is worth $40K. I'm including photos.

I came back to Welly yesterday via Palmerston North. We had a lay over there and lucky me, there was a chinese restaurant on the corner packed with Chinese people. Always a good sign to me. So in I went for some dim sum. I can't remember the last time I had proper dim sum. Pep and I went for lunch one day during the week in downtown SF but usually it's a weekend thing. Plus it was nice because I learned recently that Dad and Sally use to go with Ron before he passed away so in a way it reminded me of them. Quite a surprise and a treat! I am off again in about 30 minutes to catch a bus up to Hastings. From there, I am picking up a camper that needs to be driven up to the way north of New Zealand. I'm planning on spending the next few days doing that and hopefully hitting up some hot springs along the way. I'm not exactly sure what the camper van looks like but I think it might be something like this. I think this link will only be active for another day but I'll take some pictures later.

-bus ride-

I want to take this opportunity to reiterate the utter safety and trust one feels when in New Zealand. I think what makes this place so nice to visit is that people can still walk down the street without looking over their shoulder. You trust strangers and it is soooo refreshing. I say this because of what happened last night. I took the bus up to Hastings to pick up the aforementioned camper van that an Australian guy bought of a local Kiwi of Trademe.co.nz which is like their version of eBay. The Ozzie never saw or drove the van. The guy who sold the van has only talked to the new owner once and we all met each other on-line. I've never met the new owner. But the old owner picks me up with his buddy and takes me to his house. Offers me a place to stay which at first I wasn't sure about. But I get there and it's by far the nicest house I've been in since I've arrived. There are two other men living there as well as the owner's son. They invited me to share their roast (which is a dinner, often eaten on Sunday, with some sort of roast meat, potatoes and other veggies). One of their friends had caught a wild pig and that's what the roast was. Wine, drinks, conversation. All totally friendly and totally, totally safe. So I guess I should also mention that hospitaly in New Zealand is quite notable as well. Anyway, worth mentioning.

So I've started my roadtrip but I'm going to have to tell you about that next time.

Until then!

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Photos

I stayed somewhere on that hill under the tower.