NZ4 - My first proper Wellington experience

Yesterday, I got a day off work, Finally! I had a lie in, woke up in a very good mood to sunshine, and skyped London, where my friends were all having a party and were very drunk. It was a bit weird seeing their tipsy faces peering through the screen to me at 8 in the morning!

I jumped out of bed and into the shower and packed my bag for a day of adventures. My good camera came with, extra cardigans for later in the day, and my shades for the stunning sunshine which we had for most of the day! Nick was to keep me company playing tourist for the day, and we left the house and walked down the hill into town. We didn't want to drive as the views are stunning on the way down, the sun was shining, and we intended to drink later that day! 

We walked down Barnard Street from Wadestown, and came into town via Molesworth Street, past the parliament buildings. 

Above is the Parliamentary Library. It's a Victorian Gothic style building, and the earliest part dates back to 1883. Nick who is an Architect by trade, has brilliant knowledge of buildings and remembers all sorts of facts about them, so he was the perfect tour guide for me. 

 Above is Parliament House, and next to it, what is called The Beehive, for obvious reasons! There is a lot more History about the buildings on this website here, Click away!

A war memorial next to Parliament, it's a shame they built the office block behind it! 

We had a lot to see as this was my whistle stop tour of the city I have been living in for nearly two weeks now, so we trotted onwards and the next stop was the famous Wellington Cable Car. I love cable cars, I don't know why! I think it's very pretty! 

This is the car in the station as we entered to get on and go for a ride. 

Up we climbed, past the university. These are the playing fields you can see on the right. It doesn't actually go that far or high, so quite quickly we were at the top! At the top, there is the Carter Observatory and Planetarium, (which I'm saving for another day) the botanic gardens and the cable car museum. 

This is me, being a sundial. I thought it was telling me the wrong time, but it turns out, the sun goes the other way here! It was correct! How confusing! 

 Some interesting plants in the botanic garden. I have no idea what they are, but the orange one was very soft!

The observatory above is also in the gardens and has equipment inside which measures seismological activity. Basically earthquakey stuff! There are a lot of earthquakes in New Zealand. 

Above you can see the windsurfers down in the bay. Below is one of the original cable cars inside the museum. Note that people were allowed to just sit on the bench on the side with nothing to strap them in, that wouldn't be allowed today!

We went back down in the car and headed further into town. Over the crazy little bridge you see below and onto the sea front. We had lunch in Wagamamas, I was starving and when I saw it, I just thought of Katsu curry and how happy it would make me so we stopped in! 

I should probably explain the next photo. Our friend Amanda was moving into her new flat at the same time as we were out and about being touristy. We had already bought her a little gift each, but I spotted the equivalent of a London "pound store" where I thought I might pick myself up a cheap Iphone case for my new work phone. As we entered, I spotted this beauty below. 

I haven't seen one of these since I was little at my Grandma's house, we got very giggly about it and decided it had to be bought, especially as it was such a bargain! It was the equivalent of about £2.00. I mean, who wouldn't want a "High Class Carpeting Warm Seat For Toilet?!" Clearly an essential item for any new home! Check out the weird guy behind me too! This shop sold the most amazing crap!

Then onto Cuba Street. I liked it here, it has lots of funky little individual bars, shops and restaurants. 

The mural above is the front of a Tattoo studio just off Cuba and below, a little bit of street art which I thought was kinda cute! 

After Cuba street, my feet were starting to hurt. We had walked a good 4 or 5 miles and needed to get over to the new flat to meet our friends and give our presents. It was mid afternoon, so we popped to the supermarket, purchased a couple of bottles of Sauvignon and went to meet our friends. 

We went to a football match. One of my colleagues son's and a few others I have met, play or are involved with the Miramar Rangers. Only in Wellington would you stand on the sideline of a pitch with a glass of wine in your hand cheering the players on! Lovely!

After the match, it was time for more sports as we headed for The Gasworks, the local pub to work, where we watched the All Blacks beat Australia for the second week in a row! Great atmosphere and loads more people to befriend and also people I knew already from work. Everyone is so friendly here. 

Below is a nice bit of Graffiti outside The Gasworks. 

After the Rugby, I was pretty drunk! We had been on the go for hours and hours, and I was doing well at topping up with carbs, but still, there's only so much wine a little person like me can take! It was 11pm, really not late, but I wanted to go home. I downed a glass of water the the disappointment of most people, and ordered a cab with Nick. 

We never made it home. In the cab we got a second wind and we asked the driver to stop off in Cuba Street at a gay bar called S&M. It all gets a bit blurry from here! Literally! My photos are crap and we consumed a lot more alcohol! Played pool, danced, met a friend of Nick's called Marcus and adopted a small goth called Heather who had lost her friends. 

I don't know how we survived! 

After this we headed to probably one of the worst bars ever! (or best if you're as wasted as we were!) A karaoke bar called The Fringe (Or Minge!) There is actual video evidence of Marcus and I doing Elton and Kiki Dee. It isn't pretty and you can't see it! Look how Funny it is in these photos!! The people in there were ridiculous! 

At 3am we stumbled out in search of food. Nick said I had to go down the kids slide in town. You can see the video of this. It's lame! Click on it!  

Today I was lucky, I escaped a bad hangover. Goodness knows how! I didn't blog anything. We did go to a market in town for food, which I might tell you about if I go again next week. 

I have mainly been cooking roast chicken and wedges, cleaning and comfort eating. These are my New Zealand comfort treats purchased today. Note the orange cake on the left, home baked from a lady on the market. It was delicious! 

Happy Sunday everyone! See you in my next blog. 

Lots of love! 

xxx