Advertisement
Published: November 7th 2005
Edit Blog Post
HHi Friends!
Sorry for the lack of blog entries- life in NZ has been going by so quickly! Things have been nuts lately, with hurricane Wilma hitting my hometown (everyone is OK, but without power and gasoline!!) and trying to find ways to communicate with my family in Fl, I also had to study for exams! Since my trip to Kapiti, life in Wellington was focused on studying for final exams while trying to simultaneously soak up all that Welly has to offer me before I leave. Helma and I were clever and chose to meet for study sessions at the Botanical gardens. We sat our on a sheet and enjoyed the much needed sunshine and looked over our notes. Exams ended October 21st, and my life all of a sudden came together once again. Funny how studying can make you such a hermit... am I at Furman?? Once exams were finally finished, Welly, Shelly, and Wai te Ata were back in FULL force. Wai te ata # 3 had a flat dinner at Satay Kingdom .And throughout the week movies and chocolate (courtesy of Christian) were to be had at home also.
Diwali Festival of Lights
One
of my favorite parts of living in Wellington is that there are So many festivals to go to. On Sunday, Rachel, Helma, Lauren, Christian, Nicole and I all went to the Indian festival at the Waterfront. The festival is a celebration of a holiday in India, Diwali, and it attracted musicians, dancers, and artists from all over the world. We had a blast watching the colorful dancers and trying all the yummy Indian food! I especially liked the music that was played, such a wonderful sound! Rachel, Helma, and I all got our hands painted with Henna tattoos. As you can see by the photos, we were pretty stoked. At the end of the night, we walked back to Wai te ata and watched the fireworks show from up on our hill...nothing like 4th of July in the USA. that’s for sure!! But, it was a nice end to a fun filled cultural outing.
The last week after exams was spent hanging out with my friends and my NZ family. The weather cleared up, and spring arrived! Several times we all went to the beach at Oriental Bay and laid in the sun, and ate gelato (thanks Christian
for turning us onto the cafe ice!) Liz, Helma, Christian, Rachel and I all headed to Chocolate Fish Cafe for Dessert (YAY!) on Miramar peninsula. The cafe is so fabulous, and its where the LOTR crew all hung out during filming. Peter Jackson lives on the peninsula too. Towards to end of the week, we all got together and planned a Farewell extravaganza, in order to end our time in Welly on a fabulous note.
"Our Big Fat Farewell Party"
Helma, Corrina, Rachel, and I all organized a party for our circles of friends in NZ. We couldn’t just leave our time in NZ after exams, so we invited all our friends and people we met that have helped to make our time in NZ amazing. my favorite part of the party was the decorations! We printed out heaps of photos that we took throughout our time here and posted them all over the walls of Wai te ata. it gave a really colorful, fun, and reminiscent vibe to the party! I think everyone really enjoyed it. It was a wonderful night, probably one of my favorite nights in Wellington. Seeing every face that means so much to
Henna tattoo
I got my hand painted with Indian Henna, it was such a treat! me in one room was SO special. these people have become my family here, and Wellington, my home. Its so hard to say goodbye. We partied into the night, laughing all the way, and dancing together at Kitty O'Shea's Pub in town. Everyone had a smile on their face, and it was a perfect way to wrap up my life in Welly.
Helma left not soon after the Cocktail party. It was so sad to see her leave us! She was our little leckerding! (a Dutch word I've picked up!) We miss you Helma! and I cant wait to visit you in Holland😊
Barbeque! at Flat 3
The last night in Wellington, our flat at Wai te Ata had a barbeque. the BBQ was in celebration of Liz's final work of honors program being complete and another excuse for everyone to hang out together. Christian and Chris maintained the grill and Liz was of course a marvelous hostess. After the party, Christian, Ngaire, Rachel and I went to the Botanical Gardens for a view of the glow worms. With Christian as our tour guide we were able to be immersed in a forest of blue twinkle lights
and the sounds of wind and trees rustling. The walkway in the gardens was pitch-black, but the beautiful blue glow worms surrounded us in the darkness. It was So magical, as if they were not real. if you can imagine, it looked as if the whole garden was covered in blue Christmas lights. Thousands of lights!!! The glow worms are so incredible, they are little slimy bugs that just hang in the dark with glowing feces that attract other insects, and then the insects get stuck in the glow worms’ sticky hairs and get eaten! yucky, I know but So wonderful to see at night. I couldn’t help but feel that it was the perfect end to a perfect trip, this whole time here has been nothing but magical, so this evening suited very well. Before heading back to Wai te Ata, we all played around on the playground. Its great to be a kid! I don't think I'll ever get tired of being a kid.
I took one final look at the city at night, from the top of the gardens and said "see you soon". We all turned around and headed back home. I never thought I would
miss a city so much!
Au Revoir Wellington, I will miss you heaps!!
Cheers, Shelly
Advertisement
Tot: 0.212s; Tpl: 0.022s; cc: 15; qc: 58; dbt: 0.1239s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
Uh, Chub. aka.Coolest Person ALIVE.
non-member comment
Shizzzaaam.
First off: "As you can see by the photos, we were pretty stoked." I like your choice of vocabulary. Anyhoo.You said you were in the Botanical Gardens,..but..where are the pretty pretty flowers?..I don't understand. It seems rather nice though. Hills, Everyone loves hills. You created the classic movie scene: blanket, park, books. It all fits. : ) Now, about this so-called "Cocktail Party"..Things got prettty crazy, I presume? Haha. Eh?Eh?Eh? If I were there, I would have created a mass collage of all of your pictures, and everyone would've been all like.."oh, ah, that collage is amazzzzing who made it?!" and..of course, you would say.."My crazy cool sister and her mindblowing collage skills made that!" BUT. I'm here..so you were at loss for a collage beyond all words. Oh well. : ) LaLaLaLaaaa.