well, hello there!
after a few days of hiatus – thanks for that, by the way – i’ll be back with some great content about my new city: wellington, new zealand! but for now, here are some pictures and a little recap of my week 🙂
as you know, i left the states on tuesday evening, on a one-way ticket to wellington, new zealand. i had an eleven-hour flight to nadi, fiji, during which i crossed the international date line and therefore lost an entire day (i landed on thursday morning). in nadi, i went through their version of immigration while listening to a live band (at 6 am, mind you). from there, a short 4-hour flight landed me in wellington at noon. my airbnb/landlord picked me up and we drove to my new home. i live in brooklyn, a charming village on one of the hills overlooking downtown. it’s actually a pretty decent walk into the city, and i’ve done it every day so far.
that first day is a blur, to be honest. i think for most people, the first day after an overnight flight is a little intense – sounds are a little bit louder, things move a little bit faster, your brain is all a big jumble. c drove us “the long way round” to the house, so i could see the south coast of the city. it’s lovely, though these last few days have been really windy.
the next day, i headed out early to the city. straight down through the park, c said, and he was right: just keep going downhill and you end up at the start of the city. another ten minutes puts me right at the waterfront. i had a few things to take care of – like getting a local phone number and a bank account – which i did with a little bit of anxiousness and a few wrong turns. by early afternoon i was sorted and i headed to cuba street to meet a few backpackers i’ve corresponded with on facebook. they’ve both headed out of the city by now, but we had a coffee and talked about place we’ve been and things we’ve done. i cut out early, being completely exhausted, and began the trek back up the hill. the downside to living on a hill, it turns out, is that you must go *up* the hill at least once a day. and wellington is a city of hills: it’s built on a fault line that stretches from the northeast to southwest of the city. so you know, there’s that.
on saturday, i hit the pavement with my cv, after printing it at my local library, and dropped it at only one spot – who said they would highly consider me for a job – before realising that taking a cv around on a saturday morning at brunch time was rude of me, and so i plan to wait until monday. wellington is full of cafes and bars, so i have my fingers crossed that it’s easy enough for me to find a job. after that, i agreed to meet one of the backpackers for a hike up mount victoria, the city’s famed lookout point. it was a definite trek to the top, but worth every minute. i actually will do it again for sunrise or sunset, but it was a treat to see the planes flying in and out of wellington airport and the boats in the harbour. we got really lucky with the day too – it had been chilly when i left but by 1:30 it was quite warm and i ended up shedding layer after layer by the time we reached the top (even though the wind whipped around up there.)
we walked back down after ten or so minutes at the top and split ways at cuba street. we had planned to meet up for the night market on cuba street but by the time i got home and showered, i was just too tired to leave the house again. instead, i had a curry and some wine before crashing.
today – sunday – i left around 10, walking back down the hill to the markets. as i approached the first market, the sky opened up so i ran to the indoor market and got a coffee while waiting out the worst of the rain. the markets are impressive: there are actually quite a few, (as i learned when i ran into my housemates at the grocery store and we went back downtown for a market i had totally missed) and full to the brim of veg and fruit. the indoor market had more of the “farmer market” aspect i know from the states, but the parking lot markets were decent produce (read: not rotten) at cheap prices. i’m looking forward to the underground market at the waterfront next saturday: i have no intention of buying anything but would love to check it out.
i’m here for a few months, so i know i don’t have to stuff everything i want to do into a week, but i’m really enjoying wandering through the city and checking out all the nooks and crannies. there are a ton of little laneways in wellington, and i haven’t seen a quarter of them. i’m up for a lot of walking and exploration this week! hope you’re all having a lovely weekend 🙂 and don’t forget to follow me on instagram for more photos of my adventures!!
