Wellington round two!

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I have about a month left in NZ so I decided to make my way to Wellington and do some more travelling from the south of the North Island, back up to the north through the west coast. Oli decided to come down with me to Wellington so we could spend the weekend in his hometown, and so I could (finally) meet his dad and some of his childhood friends. Oli grew up on the coast of Wellington, in a small beachside town called Pukerua Bay (Pookay-Rue-ah). Puk Bay was absolutely stunning. We hiked up to this reserve called Raroa - we had the most stunning view off the Tasman and Oli shared many memories of this area with me. I met some of Oli's closest childhood friends; it was really nice seeing this side to him (giddy with happiness that he could see the people he grew up with). Funnily enough, one of Oli's close friends, Emily, actually went to Western at the same time that I was there! Even though she's a born and raised kiwi, she ended up doing her studies overseas in London, Ontario! We have a few mutual friends but didn't really recognize each other. I'm also really glad I got a chance to meet Simon (Oli's dad). He is exactly how I thought he'd be - a classic cool, guitar playing, motorcycle riding Kiwi man. He warmed up to me right away and we had many laughs through our entire stay there.

At the end of the weekend, Oli and I had to part ways as I was spending the next couple weeks travelling up the west coast and he was heading back to Auckland.
Next stop - Wanganui!

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