Worthless Nervous System...

Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Wellington
June 29th 2005

Published: June 30th 2005

In Wellington and all is well.
I don't even want to talk about the flights...air new zealand is actually really great, but so many hours in the air is miserable.
tip: don't eat wolfgang puck's bbq chicken pizza if you're about to board a 14 hour flight and plan on being polite with your wind. I think there were a few people beside me praying for a crash by the end (sorry!).

This is only the second day in NZ and there's already so much to write about. The stopover in Fiji was unreallllllll. Got there at 3 AM and had a taxi driver take us to a beach. He was extremely kind, as was everyone else, and wound up staying with us for 7 or 8 hours acting as a guide. Really made a lot out of the short time we had. The people there are soo poor, but still so friendly and welcoming. Almost every house we saw was made of sheet metal and leaves, but I don't believe there was one single person we passed that didn't wave with a big smile.
He took us to a street market that had everything from fish the size of sharks to the most random fruits I'd seen. He had me sit on a bench with some locals in there that were drinking what looked like muddy water. That's exactly what it tasted like as well. They would fill a bucket full of it and you'd scoop a coconut shell and take it like a shot. It was some kind of root mixed with water. I drank two shots to be kind because he said it as there national drink. It is...but turns out it's also a hallucinogenic. I felt a bit light headed and my tongue went completely numb. The locals there taught me the words you say after downing a shot and we got outa there. I won't go into the rest but we got to see quite lot of fascinating things.

Got to NZ late that night. Kelly and one of her flatmates (one of the many words I'm having to learn) picked us up at the airport. Sara and I were both EXHAUSTED...I hadn't slept a bit in 30 hours so we crashed right after. It's quite cold here and most places aren't centrally heated. Kelly filled two water bags full of boiling hot water and put it in our blankets to keep us warm. Guess what? I woke up in the morning with 2nd degree burns down the side of my leg. I somehow managed to roll over onto the bag in the night and it literally cooked about a 1ft area up the back of my thigh. My nervous system, being the effective and useful system that it is, failed to wake me up or make me jerk away or any other of the purposes it's suppose to serve. I'm fine though...just drained the giant welts and went on with the day.

So yesterday was our first full day in Wellington. We wore ourselves out walking all around it, tasting at the local breweries, visiting the Te Papa museum and saw the Royal collection which had 4 Divinci's and a Raphael sketch. The wine here is great. Alcohol is everyyywhereee. It's just part of it. I mentioned that a big Rugby tournement was going on, but I had no idea how big it was. New Zealand's team, the All Blacks are facing the British-Irish Lions. All Blacks are the best ranked team in the world, and I think the Lions are second. The last time they played each other was in 1997 or something, so this tourny only happens every 7 years or so. It's a really big deal. The next test (game) is tomorrow night and it takes place here in Wellington. I can't tell you how consumed they are with it. School children run around the streets screaming "All Blacks" to anyone wearing red (the lion's color), signs are in every single window, merchandise is sold almost anywhere you go, and the rerun of the first test is constantly airing in almost every bar. It's actualy really fun to watch. I'd never seen it before. It's incredibly violent, but they don't seem to get hurt much at all considering they wear no padding whatsoever (not even a cup!). There's no way we could afford a ticket to the international games going on (around $300 i think) but I think we're going to try to make it to a local club game.
I had never heard this before, but prostitution is completely legal here! Increased my chances a bit, anyways.

Kelly and her roomates have been really good to us. On the 5th we're taking out in a rented car that we have until the 10th, longer if we're so inclined. Theres so much more to write...but I need to go I've been writing for a while and I think we're about to go check out Mt. Victoria and the botanical gardens.
Sorry to cut it so short.
Best wishes.

Sammy Joe
ps. if my sentence structure seems odd, its the way these people talk. It's so hard not to adopt it...Kelly's been here for 5 months, and the pitch of her sentences follow theres. I've only been here 2 days and I'm using their words.

Worthless Nervous System...

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