Wellington

I’d heard a number of good things about Wellington and so had planned about a week there, however something I should have learned with Auckland is cities are NOT the place to be in New Zealand. The countryside is just too good to waste in them! That and Wellington has a seedy and cramped feeling, though that opinion wasn’t helped by the nutter in my dorm the other night. After a night drinking he came in about 3am and went to bed. Nothing wrong with that, but an hour later he woke the entire room up when in a drunken (and probably drug induced) sleepwalk he was standing over somebody elses bed pretending he had a gun shouting at this person to dance for him. The dance request was inbewteen the threats of violence against everyone else in the room. He spent the rest of the night waking people up at random points shouting abuse. Very disturbing, even more so as we all thought that he actually did have a gun – trick of the light at 4am when half asleep!

I left the city a few days early and have headed to a suburb just up the coast called Plimmerton. Much more relaxed with stunning scenery. I’ll be staying here until my flight to Sydney in a few days!

One thing that is worth doing in Wellington is climbing to the Mount Victoria Lookout for views over the city and airport. Watching planes takeoff and land from there is enjoyable, if only for the fact that the runway looks waaaaaaaay to short! You can also see the soundstage used in the Lord of the Rings and King Kong films from up there.

Next Stop – Return to Oz!!