May 12th, 13th, and 14th - Wellington

The morning after our river journey we all agreed that the weather was too poor to be climbing around Mount Doom on the Tongariro Alpine Crossing. I suspect that the state of our bodies after three days of paddling combined with that beast of a celebratory dinner had a little to do with our decision as well. Rather than muck about in some of the small towns along the Kapiti Coast we decided to push forth for Wellington. I’d been especially excited about Wellington and its surrounding suburbs for a number of reasons; it has a renowned café culture, thriving arts scene, proper public transit, and above all else, natural beauty. Driving into the city we passed through Pukera Bay, the hometown of Peter Jackson of Lord of the Rings fame. Unfortunately nearly all of the hostels in the CBD had received mediocre reviews as they cater to the nightlife crowd with many situated above bars so we stuck to our golden rule set forth after the Tauranga experience and selected a place 20 minutes north of Wellington in Plimmerton called Moana Lodge. If my te reo Maori is correct I believe the translation of ‘moana’ is ocean, which is quite fitting as the only thing separating this hostel from the ocean was a thin strip of road. The proprietor, John, was an exceptionally bored old man who, for this reason, was uncomfortably welcoming and anxious to offer us every last bit of his knowledge of the area. It got to the point where each of us had separately tuned out his voice and were attempting to communicate through some form of telekinesis to devise a plan to kill him while outwardly retaining an image of mild interest. Hours must have passed before we escaped his siren song and we could read the disappointment in his face afterwards for, after giving us so many ideas for things to do, we instead did laundry. Let this be a warning to all potential backpackers in NZ; don’t hang your laundry out on a clothesline. The sunniest, most beautiful day will inexplicably turn to unrelenting rain for about 30 seconds, just to spite the dryness of your garments. Anyway, after slipping into my soggy jeans we hopped in the car and made for the city. I have to say, even though I’d seen many pictures of Wellington before coming over here, it still blew me away with how pretty it was. The three of us tried to name who the parents would be if Wellington were an illegitimate love child and we came to some sort of an agreement that it’s kind of like the offspring of Waikiki in Hawaii and San Francisco. As was the case in Auckland, it’s difficult to relate it to one other place in particular as it is very much unique. To see if the city passed the first Colin test I decided to see how long it would take me to locate and purchase the new Fleet Foxes album. What I soon discovered is that the main shopping district has multiples of everything, especially bookstores. Not only could I find the lesser known items I sought, but I had the ability to shop around. That’s an A+ in my books. I bought the album much to the chagrin of my pop music preferring travel mates but I had to put my foot down on this issue. We spent the rest of the day in Te Papa, New Zealand’s national museum on the CBD waterfront. It reminded me very much of going to the Space and Science center as a kid with all its interactive displays. We got to stand inside a model house and simulate an earthquake and learn how much devastation the European settlement of the land has inflicted. The highlight of the place was the skeleton of a pygmy blue whale that hung from the ceiling and the preserved carcass of the only giant squid on display in the world. Simon’s snoring had me up at 6:30am on day two so I went for a run along the beach, followed by a massive breakfast and a go on the hostel’s acoustic guitar and piano. That day was shopping day for Kelsey and we split up to let her do her thing, making bets on how much she would spend. Simon ended up winning but I won’t say what our guesses were. We found Simon an old copy of the Hobbit to read when he’s lounging on the beaches of Tonga and I mulled over a $20 pair of city shoes before realizing they’d do more harm than good. Simon introduced me to this interesting chain of sushi restaurants that have a changing daily special of 8 pieces for under $5 NZD. As a rule I’d normally avoid cheap seafood but in the spirit of being a backpacker I indulged and it was good enough that I bet I’d frequent the place if I stuck around Wellington. That evening, after cooking an amazing dinner of New Zealand lamb over rice, Greek salad, pitas, hummus, red wine, and Hokey Pokey ice cream (a kiwi original), we headed across the street from the hostel to the local boating club who let us in on members night to watch the Wellington Hurricanes NRL rugby match. Although the Hurricanes lost it was still a great time, and the $5 beers were a welcome change from the $8 beers in the city. On our last day in Wellington we left Moana Lodge for the city to stay with Simon’s old flat mate from his few days at university in Christchurch who had a place at the Massey University residence where we could crash on the floor. While waiting for the dryer and listening to the Fleet Foxes album in the car I drained the battery but bored old John was happy to have something to do and got us a boost. The flat at the University was really tiny but free, and beggars can’t be choosers. We did some of the tourist attractions that day, most notably the Mt. Victoria lookout which was both a workout and a revelation. It is the centerpiece of the city’s greenbelt, an amazing set of parkland that cuts through the city whose hills provide endless lookouts over the harbour. We walked the trails where the scene was shot from The Fellowship of the Ring where the four hobbits hide from the black rider and, being a huge nerd, I was giddy as a schoolgirl. We ended the day with a goodbye dinner at a place called Sweet Mother’s Kitchen which is like a better version of Dadeo’s in Edmonton. We got a heaping plate of nachos and a Tui each (my favourite NZ beer) to start followed by sizeable comfort food main courses with a side of bourbon mash. Kelsey did the unthinkable and ordered the $10 apple pie and Ice cream for dessert and despite my reservations I admit I was jelly. We caught a live cover band for free who played mostly West Coast ska music despite it being a mock Irish pub, but no one was complaining. I’m writing this on the ferry to the South Island, hoping that I don’t get seasick. I didn’t plan nearly as much for the South Island as I did for the North Island so it will be interesting to see what we get up to but naturally it will either be epic, or I will dramatize it to make it sound epic to justify keeping up with this blog!