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Published: August 26th 2009
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So on Friday having had breakfast in the car on the banks of the river Wanganui we headed to Wellington.
We soon arrived at the hostel and checked in. Having dropped off our bags and parked the Starlet up Steve and I went for a wander. We wandered along the promenade and ended up going into the Olympic museum and then wandered along the streets. Steve then decided to go to the Te Papa museum as at this time he was thinking of leaving Wellington the next day as he had less than a week left before he flew out and was wanting to get to Queenstown as soon as possible to do a bungee jump and skydive. I was not leaving until Sunday or maybe Monday.
I went back to the hostel and relaxed. Later that evening whilst making dinner I got talking to various people some from my dorm and others who were cooking at the time. We all ended up sat round talking for the evening until some decided to go out on the tiles however I decided it was time for bed. On returning to the dorm Steve and I had a discussion about his
and my respective plans. After pouring over a map he decided that he would continue his journey with me and I had decided that I would leave for the South Island on Sunday morning.
Saturday morning I woke up after a poor nights sleep, the girl in the bunk above me had a cold/chest infection so spent the whole night coughing which shook the bed and I also kept on having her dirty hankies falling on me. I was up and out of the dorm early and arranged to swap dorms as I knew I couldn't cope with a second night like that one! Rooms moved and I headed to the Te Papa museum known as the “Museum of New Zealand”. The museum was fascinating and I could have spent a long time there however as I was so tired by the third floor I was unable to concentrate on the exhibitions and so made my way back to the hostel.
After lunch I decided I had to get out and be active and therefore walked across the town and caught the Wellington Cable Car up the hill where I then walked around enjoying the glorious sunshine. I
then walked down the hill via the botanical gardens. I will confess to having a “moment” of felling very old whilst walking through the botanical gardens as I was a flowering magnolia and I knew without even checking the label what it was and the same thing happened when I came across the rhododendrons...... Mum and Dad you should be proud to know I listen occasionally but it is scary to think I am getting old enough to start recognising and being able to name plants!! I will say that the gardens were very pretty due to the spring flowers.
On returning to the hostel I found Steve sat in the internet room changing his flight out of New Zealand. So we are still travelling together and it looks like I may have a travel companion till I hand the car back in a few weeks time. Once he had his flight changes confirmed I told him I had seen a notice in the hostel reception for a rugby game that evening and he agreed to come along.
Tickets bought and dinner eaten we headed off to the rugby match with a girl from my new dorm room
called Katie, from the US. The rugby match (Wellington Lions v Auckland) was good fun although I will confess I only know limited rules so occasionally had to ask Steve what was happening. The Wellington Lions won 16 -15.
After the match we headed to the Temperance bar as with our tickets we had been given a voucher for a free pint of beer. I also text my friend Aimee who lives in Wellington and she came and met us in the bar. I have known Aimee since 1997 when we met on a Rotary Summer Camp in Norway and we have stayed in touch on and off since then. So we had a catch up and discussed our various travels - she lived in South Korea for a few years and is intending on travelling around South America before heading to the UK to work for a few years.
Sunday morning was an earlyish start as we had to get the ferry from Wellington to Picton on the South Island... The smell of snow and skiing is getting ever closer!
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Brimster
Andrea
Reliably informed....
I have been reliably informed by my Dad that the unnamed pretty flower in my photo "is a helibour ( in our garden) as Christmas rose"