Welly Wellington

Correction on my last blog: Not Mojitos but Margaritas, sorry Sarah!! A whole new, excellent way to drink tequila :)

Photos to be added soon when I have more internet data!!

I arrived in Wellington around 7 in the evening, my friend S was late so I met him half way with all my stuff. I think I must've landed funny coming down the stairs on my last day at Kathmandu on Saturday as what was a twinge then, was now a full hurting foot. I was limping a bit as I walked, I tried not to put too much weight on it. Hard with how much stuff I was carrying!

My friend had made up a bed for me on the couch, but we went out for dinner first. Back at his, I got him watching the very first episode of Spooks – a great spy TV programme set in London – when his girlfriend arrived. They went to bed early. Those walls aren't exactly thick. Awkward. When they both got up for work early – around 7am – I pretended to be asleep. This was actually the last time I saw my friend S the whole time I was in Wellington. He always had excuse after excuse to not meet up, and then forgot my birthday even though we'd originally had plans. Who needs friends like that?

I was to move into my new flat that day. I'd Skype viewed it a few weeks before and had already transferred the deposit to the guy moving out. I took a taxi there because my foot still hurt. I managed almost the full street length before I hailed one anyway! On arrival, the guy who was supposed to be moving out, Morgan, was still there. The kitchen and sitting room, although looked great by Skype, were a complete and utter mess. There were dishes everywhere and everything just looked sort of grimy. I had to persuade the guy to vacuum the room before he left it. I had an interview that evening so I dumped my stuff and left him to pack up the rest of his stuff. I had hoped he'd clean the kitchen, apparently remnants of a party two nights previously. Yuck.

Before the interview, I was to meet friends at the cinema. I don't know how, but I managed to walk the entire way there in just under an hour. My foot was aching still and I took a lot of breaks en route. I changed for my interview in the bathrooms at the cinema, then met up with my friends to buy the tickets. It was a meet-up group activity, but I was surprised to know at least half of the attendees. I had to leave my ticket money with a friend as I thought I might be late for my interview.

Ahh, my interview. I've only really told a select few so far about this, but, as I promised at the very beginning that I'd spill all the details... here goes. It was for a receptionist position at a strip club. My friends up in Napier and I had been joking about it for weeks. What if they had a girl short and asked me to step in? That sort of thing. I thought it could be fun. Not all strip clubs are bad, right?

Well, I turned up for my interview in the 'Splash Club'. I was shown into a side waiting area, and was asked to fill out a form. The manager came in and looked over my paperwork briefly. He asked me about myself and how long I was planning on staying in Wellington. When I said, maybe 6 months, it depended on the job, I could see he was disappointed. When the interview was set up, the lady on the phone said 6 months was fine. After all, I only had 7 months left on my working holiday visa. He told me that 6 months wasn't enough time, but instead he could offer me contract work. A couple of hundred dollars a week. For receptionist, I asked? He said no, that it would be spending time with men. I said no thanks straight away. He said, I don't think you understand. You'd be sleeping with them. And that I'd have to have a trial period first, maybe with him. I said that I understood, but it was still no. I was shown the way out, smiles all round. I seriously felt like vomiting. On my way back to meeting the group, I was sent a text by the strip club manager with his details, just 'in case I changed my mind'. Yuck. This text has since been deleted from my phone. I think you can guess why.

I met back up with the group at a local bar where they were having dinner and the pub were having a bingo night. I joined them for something to eat and a round of bingo – and won a drink! We went on to the cinema to watch How to Train Your Dragon 2, very funny. Lots of adult humour, see it if you can!

When I got back to the flat (by bus, only $2!), it was still pretty manky. Nobody had done any cleaning and I decided to leave it til the next night. If they haven't cleaned by then, I thought, then I'm going to do something about it. I did the rest of my unpacking then – what I could anyway. I had no blankets except a ratty duvet and two pillows left by the previous tenant, so I put a t-shirt over a pillow, hid under my jacket and slept that way.

Next day, I had a haircut. A bit more epic than your normal haircuts. My friends Dawn and Sarah had found the ad on the backpackers board for a free haircut. I was to be a haircut model, I'd have the final say on what my hair would look like... but I knew it was going to be a change. At this point, I hadn't had a haircut in around 15 months. I'd meant to get it cut before I left the UK but time had gotten away from me and I'd forgotten. My hair was now very long, longest it'd ever been – around half back length. Long, thick and brown hair that took me ages to wash in the shower! I met the hairdresser, Matthew Kane, at Pearl Hair Design in the Wellington CBD. He appraised my hair and asked me to go through a book of 70s and 80s bad hair styles. He said his usual method was to change someone's bad hairstyle into a funky new look, and since my hair was a bare canvas, we'd better get me a bad haircut before we started. He looked up several hairdressers nearby and decided on Johnsonville, a suburb town 25 minutes away on the train. My first train ride in New Zealand!!

You don't really get commuter trains in New Zealand. In the south island, it's expensive coastal and mountain routes. But around Wellington, there are trains!! On arrival in Johnsonville, we made me an appointment in the most basic of salons, Just Cuts, where they cut your hair for $29. Whilst waiting for the appointment, we went around the rest of the mall and then out onto the street, trying to find elsewhere that would cut my hair. He tried barbers and little shacks, but they only catered for men. In the end, we went back to the Just Cuts salon with the picture I'd chosen back in the Pearl Salon. A cool (not), 70's bowl cut. She took off at least a foot of my hair to start with – my head felt lighter already. And then started shaping it into the style. It looked awful. I suppose that was the idea. Matthew said, once we were back at the station, that I should try rocking the look for a week. He'd colour it back at the studio, and I'd then see what I thought. I felt like crying.

Not a fan of the bowl cut

My hair was coloured red and he put little blonde bits in it too. My first time ever getting my hair dyed in a salon. A lot of unusual firsts today. Once dried, I still didn't like the look, so Matthew took out a pair of scissors and cut it into the look it is today. To be honest, I prefer the spikier look. It's longer now – about 6 weeks since I've had it cut – and I'm itching to get it cut again, shorter as my fringe is pretty low, and dye it back to an almost natural colour. I liked the red, but I prefer brown. I may go for a brown-red though. When I left at 4, I realised I'd been in that salon for 5 hours, including journey time. I hadn't even had lunch but found this super sushi place on my way to the Warehouse – I needed covers for my bed etc. My foot was hurting a ton by then. Hobbling a lot, taking more breaks and, after being in pain whilst walking around the store, I got a taxi back to the house.

Next day, I went out to meet my friend Dawn. She was going to be in Wellington for an hour or so, in between bus and ferry, and I said we'd do a mini tour of Wellington. Then it took me 40 minutes to walk to the station – a walk that would normally take me 10-15 minutes. Dawn's bus was late, so when she arrived, we got a quick snack in the station's supermarket, and started walking to the ferry terminal. We saw no other way. We later found out there was a shuttle bus, but we had no clue so walked along the side of the dual carriageway, crossing over to the other side by the Westpac stadium when the pavement ran out and crossing again – dangerously – round to the port. They really need a better walking path. I was limping all the way. It turned out to be a lovely, sunny day as well, so I was sweltering. This was not what I had planned for Dawn. Not at all. We reached the terminal with only 10 minutes to spare. Dawn was the last booked passenger they'd been waiting for, and we managed to take a seat for a few minutes before she had to go. Hopefully I'll see Dawn again in Auckland before she goes home in November, this time I better not have injured myself!

Me and Dawn at the train station

I took a taxi back to my house, as it was far to far for me to walk. I could've taken a few buses, but I doubt I would've been able to get from the bus stop to the house very easily. My foot was now in agony. I looked up the local hospital online, and it said on the site to call the NZ equivalent of NHS24 first, so I did. The nurse on the phone said that I should keep my foot raised, take painkillers and see a healthcare professional as soon as I could. That week, I'd already enquired to several doctor's surgeries in my area, none of which would take an international person on. The lady on the phone suggested a 24 hour clinic that I should go to, so I called a cab to go straight away. Instead of the clinic, the taxi driver took me to the hospital. At reception, I was sent to A&E and waited for about an hour before I was seen. The nurse felt my foot, gave me some painkillers and sent me back to the waiting area to wait for the specific doctor. I arrived about 5pm, and didn't get seen until around 8pm. My foot was felt again, and then I was sent to x-ray. It wasn't long until I received my results... I'd broken a bone in my foot! One of the bones used to support the big toe. And I hadn't just broken it, I'd crushed it into lots of little pieces. I asked if I could take a photo for proof. I was given a prescription for painkillers and for a shoe that would help my foot heal. No bandages or cast here! And nothing was open tonight, so I'd have to wait til the next day to get painkillers.

I took a bus back to town, grabbed a burger half way and took a taxi back the rest of the way. I was exhausted. On arrival back at the house, the place still wasn't clean. I was glad I'd had my burger as there was no way I was cooking amongst this scum. There was green mould on bowls. I was going nowhere near! I went straight to bed, put up my foot, took some of my own stash of painkillers and tried to sleep.

Next day, I hobbled a few streets to the place where I'd be fitted for my shoe. It was a black strap on shoe, and it only supported half of my foot. I have no idea how they expected my foot to heal in this kind of shoe, but it wasn't helping now. I hobbled, with the shoe, across pedestrian crossings and down the street to the pharmacy. I could feel people staring at me. In the pharmacy, the lady at the counter gave me a stool to sit while I waited for my prescription. She said the pharmacy could rent me some crutches if it was easier for me. I paid $80. $5 a day, so I was covered for 16 days. I'd never been so relieved. I went to the supermarket after this and stocked up properly. I couldn't handle the crutches and the trolley together, so the trolley was my support. I took a taxi home again, and was helped in the door by one of my flatmates, Sacha.

The unhelpful shoe

I didn't go out the rest of the weekend. My new flatmate across the hall, Cass, gave me some bandages to tie up my foot when I did want to go out. I went to the cinema with friends to see What We Do In The Shadows, crutches and all. It's a vampire mockumentary set in Wellington. As a NZ film, it probably won't be released in the UK. But if it's online, you should really find it and watch it! First form of NZ humour I've found funny! I had to go in sandals (and one with a sock) because it was the only shoe my foot would fit in once the bandages were on. The prescription shoe was long forgotten – much too painful to walk around in. After the cinema, we visited a quirky little café down the road where I had the most amazing feijoa sorbet! Yum!

Because I was often off my feet because of the pain, I hadn't done a lot of job hunting. I'd printed off a ton of my CV and had handed out quite a few to the shops around Lambton Quay. I heard back from a few, but all rejections. I applied to a temp agency online and went down to their offices for an interview. I did a word and excel test, a typing test and a formal interview. They only came up with one job for me, and by the time it came along, I'd already decided to move away from Wellington.

That Friday (18^th) I went out with the meet up group again. I left my crutches at home and took the bus down. I saw a few people I already knew – Sarah, Rachel, Sophie and Vicky – and made a new friend in Asti. I thought she was British at first, but no, Kiwi through and through. I drank fruit flavoured cider out of jam jars that night. Pretty tasty! I hadn't taken any painkillers so I could drink, but I didn't stay out too long and got the last bus back to my house.

Next day was my birthday!! My dad had sent me a package, which I'd found the night before, with the rest of the recycling just off the doorstep – what a clever delivery man! And in that package was a teddy bear! I've decided to take the bear along with me on adventures, like the gnome in Amelie. Keep forgetting him though, oops! On the day itself, I went for lunch with the meet up group for my friend Rachel's leaving party. She and her friend, Lisa, were setting off for a South Island adventure, and then onto Australia before returning home to London. I hope I'll see her back in the UK when I'm home, could be fun! We went to GP's for lunch, or the General Practicioner. It used to be a doctor's surgery, but from the outside just looks like an old house surrounded by all these city blocks. I had stew for lunch, it was really good. There were loads of us squished around this one long table, and it was good to see people I hadn't yet seen so far – like my Irish friend Eva.

The others had plans for laser tag or the cinema, but I decided instead to bake myself a cake for my birthday and make some food before a select few friends came around for dinner. Rachel and Lisa Marie, Megan, Asti and Cass. Rachel brought Pavi with them, he was the only guy. We had the rice salad I made, plus a ton of fruit and almost a bottle of wine each, while we played one game of Go Fish and a few rounds of I've Never. The party was over by 10 so me and Cass just hung out talking til bed.

Me and the bear my dad got me

Blurry times on my birthday: Megan, Rachel and Lisa Marie

My friend Sarah – the Canadian Sarah from the prison – arrived in Wellington on the Tuesday, and we, plus her friends Caila and Savanah, went out for lunch and a walk. They had all had a wild time out the night before, so all were feeling pretty rough, so we just went for a walk along the wharf and along to Oriental bay after lunch at Sweet Mother's Kitchen, a place that does New Orlean's style food. In the evening, Savanah had to head to the airport and Caila went with, so Sarah and I went and had dinner at a Thai Express kitchen close to the end of Courteney place. The portions in this place were huge, and, not having a massive appetite, I had to take some home with me. After dinner, we went to the Crafty Fox, as arranged by me, to join some of the Welly Girls meet up group for bingo. Caila joined us just before this, and we went to the Embassy to buy tickets for What We Do In The Shadows for both of them. As I'd already seen it, my plan was to stick with the meet up group til the end of bingo instead. I won two lines at bingo, which means two drinks, and I was drinking cava this time, so, being a lightweight, felt a bit tipsy by the end! The girls in the group were nice and one was almost a spitting image of my cousin Karen. I managed to find a picture on fb on my phone of Karen for her, and the rest of the girls believed it was her! I didn't manage to meet up with this group again. Maybe I will if I ever go back, but not finding a job meant by this point I was fairly low on funds. Next day, I met up with Sarah and Caila again, this time to visit Te Papa together. I'd done the first floor before, so I met up with them to do the rest. I had handed in my crutches en route to the pharmacy, and they were so happy with my “miraculous recovery” that they gave me more money back than I was owed. Not miraculous yet, but at least I could walk again! We explored until closing time, but still didn't manage to see everything! We said goodbye at Te Papa and I walked home – randomly bumping into Chris, my old wind band mate from Lochaber High School. I knew he was in the city, but to bump into him like this was cool.

Caila, Savanah and Canadian Sarah at Oriental Bay

The following Friday, I met up with Grant. He's an old family friend who used to work in Glenfinnan and, apart from his travelling days, has lived in Wellington most of his life. He said he'd help me find a job, but by this point, I was feeling very let down by the system and was already thinking of moving on. Grant met me for coffee at Midnight Expresso on Cuba street, a funky little street full of cafés and bars, it reminds me a lot of the top end of Sauchiehall street in Glasgow. After coffee, we went out for Thai and then drinks at a wine bar with art all over the walls. Afterwards, we ended up at Southern Cross, a bar I'd been to before with the meet up group back in April, to meet two of his friends. I felt very young by this point, especially when they started talking about work and divorce, so I left to join my friends at a bar nearby. I thanked Grant for a good evening and left them to talk about a boys weekend away they had planned.

I met up with my friend Sophie in the Crafty Fox – same venue as the bingo on Tuesday – and a bunch of guys I didn't know. They were about to move pubs, so I had a quick drink and watched some of the commonwealth games on the tv with them. Scotland won a swimming medal and I did a little hooray in the pub. Being the only Scot, I was teased! We didn't have a TV in our house, so I'm afraid that's the only commonwealth games coverage I ever saw!

As we moved on, Sophie deserted us to go home, then it was just me and 7 guys I didn't know that well. They introduced themselves to me, but I've forgotten their names by now! We ended up in an expensive Irish pub on Cuba street, where it was $14 for a cider!! I made it last! I got some of the guys to dance to the live band with me, but after a few songs we headed upstairs to play pool. We didn't know what the deal was with deposits and rules for the tables, and none of the boys felt like asking, so, I did. I went up to a girl with a tartan shirt to ask. Emilie, is Scottish – and from Troon! I was so happy to find another Scottish person! I've met a grand total of four Scottish people in New Zealand in the past 6 months – not including friends I've met up with on purpose. We chatted for a bit, and continued when me and two of the guys – the other 5 had left – started playing. When it was just me and one other guy, we joined Emilie and her friends playing pool, all the way until the bar closed at 3am. Emilie and I swapped numbers, and I walked home, as the next bus wasn't for another half an hour.

The next day, I got up early to do a hike from City to Sea with another meet up group, Wellywalks. Our route was from the Botanical Gardens, 2km uphill from me in Thorndon, to the sea at #, 14km away. I joined the group at 11am, and we walked through several Wellington suburbs, through towns and parks – stopping for breaks and to play on the epic flying fox – and even through golf courses, to viewpoints and then all the way to the sea. It was sunny most of the day and I ended up carrying two of my layers in my bag by the time we stopped for lunch. I was only in a t-shirt and it was Winter! I was one of the last walkers most of the day – my pace is slow but steady – and my foot started hurting 3km from the end, but I trudged through it and made it to # in once piece! We stopped for a drink in a little cafe – the rest got cake but I couldn't eat it – and then we got the bus home again. A pretty good day, and all in all, including my walk home from the bus as well, I did about 17km!

On my walk: City to Sea

Cool statue at the top of the highest hill

I had an interview for a charity fundraiser on the 28^th. I thought it'd be helping out at charity events, but no, charity fundraiser is another way of saying door to door sales. Our interview stopped half way once he realised I wasn't into it – and I wasn't. This is the point when I decided I wasn't going to stay in Wellington any longer. Emilie had a new job in telesales, well paid, but I didn't think that was me either. I've decided that I like retail sales, but I don't ever want a job with trying to sell people things over the phone sales. That's how I got into a mess with my phone contract last year, I don't want to be the person on the other side of the phone. Feeling down in the dumps, I decided to treat myself to a muffin at the train station, then changed my mind and decided on a McDonald's – bumping into Sarah's friend Caila heading for the bus. She was off to Napier – to work in the prison as a matter of fact! Sarah and I had talked about it when we met up, and she'd applied and been taken on! It's a small world. I'll be seeing her again when I head back there at the end of August.

Two days later saw the arrival of Sarah (USA) and Mark in Wellington. I had three days and nights with them and wow did we try and squeeze a lot in! They arrived Wednesday evening, and we had a late dinner with Cass – or rather we ate and I got Cass to eat something. That girl is way too skinny and she's dieting! My bed consisted of two mattresses on top of each other, so I'd managed to split them and squish both of them into my room side by side. Cass said it looked kinky, but it was manageable – one mattress for me and Sarah, and one for Mark. And it was perfect for movie nights. Later, with a bottle of cider each – sounds small, but bottles here are over a litre – I was taught how to play poker. One thing I will say – Cass plays mean! We didn't have any chips or a lot of change, so we used my Jenga bricks and scrabble letters instead. So I kind of know how now, but please don't ask me to play, I still suck! We finished off the night with an enlightening game of I've Never where I ran out of my alcohol fairly quickly.

Next day: Disney on Ice! Certain people I've come to know have a slightly unhealthy obsession with all things Disney, and Sarah and Mark had been having marathons up in Napier in preparation without me. The morning of, I tried to make pancakes in our tiny kitchen. I'd long since tried to give it a make over, but certain people had a way of not cleaning up after themselves EVER. Not naming names or anything: Sasha & Rory!! The pan kept sticking but I sort of managed to get everyone fed!

Our showing was a matinee, and we spotted only one other group of people without kids in the arena – but Mark was still the only guy. The show was fantastic, I really enjoyed it! I'm such a big kid sometimes, and I took tons of pictures so I can show F & L. They even had Mulan come out at the end with other Disney couples. I was happy with that – she's my favourite :) Girl power and all that! Afterwards we took a walk down the wharf and ended up in Thai Express for dinner again. Starting to really love that place, but this time both Sarah and I took home leftovers. As we knew we had a long day to come, we just ended up staying in and watching Whale Rider.

Disney on Ice: all the Disney couples at the end

Me, Mark and Sarah

On Friday we went to Day's Bay across the other side of the peninsula by ferry. We'd gotten Grab One's for the trip to save ourselves some money. I hadn't managed to print mine out so we went to the ferry information office to check that my code was just as acceptable. It was there that we found out that the ferry we wanted to get on wasn't running because of the high winds, and that they only had limited services on that day. We had booked a table at Sweet Mother's kitchen for lunch but realised we wouldn't have enough time, so we took a wee stroll along Lambton Quay to find something to eat – and ended up in Subway. We're so healthy. At least it's sandwiches, right?

Sarah, Mark and the blue Dominion Post ferry

We had a very windy crossing. Sarah and I went up top at one point to see the Island and were almost blown across the boat – we had to hold onto the benches several times. Mark was too chicken. Ha. On arrival, we took a walk along the shore and onto the beach in the next town over. We picked up some fruit in the veg store and some ice cream before walking back to the terminal. The sun came out for a bit, but by the time we'd gotten back to the pier the wind had picked up again. Some of the houses over there are pretty impressive, and we even saw a house on the cliff that had it's own elevator up. Pretty cool!

Sarah and I on top of the boat: WINDY!

The person with an elevator going up to their house.

That night, after dinner at Sweet Mother's Kitchen (made it eventually), we walked back via New World and picked up some wine... and watched movies again: The Hunger Games and Captain America: the Winter Soldier. Cass even joined us for a bit this time. We'd walked back via New World and picked up some Irn Bru! Mark already likes it (yay!), but the test was for Sarah. She managed to finish a whole can, I was so proud! Haha. I think she liked it too, but couldn't describe the taste. Many others have tried and failed! I can't even describe it to non-Scots either! I'd gotten a bottle of wine too and Mark “helped me out” drinking it with me. Nobody likes to drink alone. That night, I moved mattresses. I'm gonna say it, Sarah, sorry – but you snore! Not badly, but enough for a semi-sleepless night. Wednesday night was okay, Thursday I had to go top-to-tail to sleep and the last night, Friday, I made Mark share. He's a duvet hogger that one – even though he had his own sleeping bag too! I was too warm to sleep (all the wine, oops) so slept under a sheet anyway. Wellington is cold, that house was cold, but I always had the warmest room.

Next morning, Mark and I were really lazy. Sarah went off early for the first tour at the parliament down the road, and we were supposed to meet her for coffee around half 12. That didn't happen. Being too warm the night before I hardly slept, so pushed my 'snooze' button a few too many times. Sarah came back eventually – realising we were indeed a lazy twosome – and pushed us out of bed.

And then we went to Rivendell!!! Had we gotten out of bed earlier, we were going to go to the Weta cave, but didn't make it. We drove up in the rain to the park where Rivendell was set, although there's not much there now. A local guy who does tours is trying to rebuild the elven archway where they all leave out of in the Fellowship of the Ring, but there's not much else. There's a map to show you and I believe we were in Frodo's bedroom at some point. And then after that Sarah and Mark had to leave. They'd bought tickets for the first showing of Guardians of the Galaxy up in Napier and needed to make it back for it. I was sad to see them go, the house felt too quiet once they'd gone.

Mark and I matching character heights. I'm Gandalf, He's almost Aragorn
and Sarah is half dwarf, half wizard.

Sarah and I under the elven archway

Before they'd come down, I'd started to apply to jobs elsewhere in North Island. Wellington wasn't going anywhere for me, and I'd lost hope. I'd applied to hostel jobs country-wide, and had accepted one in Whanganui on the west coast for a three week stint, starting the 5^th of August. I put my flat up online to rent, trying to make the room look as good as I could get it. I needed the deposit back to be able to move away, plus someone to pay for the furniture I'd bought off Morgan only 4 weeks previously. I'd bought things for the room after that – sheets, blankets etc – so I would be at a loss anyway, but I knew I couldn't stay any longer. I realise now that I should've just tried working in a hostel whilst looking for a job, but with my foot playing up so much within the first two weeks, I'm actually kind of glad I didn't. I booked my bus to Whanganui for the Tuesday, and lo and behold, thankfully found someone to fill the room by the Sunday before. A bit close!

I realised that I'd made some good friends in Wellington by then and wanted to say goodbye. I sent texts around and met up with four friends on Sunday afternoon for lunch: Emilie, the Scottish girl I'd met a few weeks ago whilst playing pool; Janella, a friend I'd met in April when I'd come down on Anzac day for paddle boarding with Sophie and Simon and Karaoke with the meet up gang. She'd been on a European adventure – including Edinburgh! And had literally just got back. Also with us were Sophie, my meet up pal and Megan, my bus mate who'd also been for a long trip in London recently. We went to a new-ish New Orleans style food place – like Sweet Mother's but cheaper – called Laundry on Cuba street. I had three amazing tacos for $15 and everybody said the place was wonderful. We went to Midnight Expresso after for some vegan chocolate cake (YUMMY and only $5 for a HUGE slice). Emilie can't have dairy either, so we were being good to ourselves, really. Our table in the cafe was actually an old console game, so we ended up playing on it amongst our dirty plates. Megan is a pro, and got to level 6! If I ever go back to Wellington, I want to meet up with this same gang again. I'd met them through three different things – I can be Miss sociable sometime – and have plans to extend my trip in Oz if I can to include Adelaide so I can meet up with Emilie again, plus I'll hopefully see Megan up in Napier again soon.

In Laundry: Janella, Megan, Sophie and Emilie

Lunch at Laundry: Emilie, me and Janella

Vegan Chocolate cake in Midnight Expresso

I found this later and realised my friends had taken some snaps when I
popped to the bathroom. Classy: Emilie, Megan and Janella

Me failing at the game under our table

Monday was my last day. I'd done my last lot of washing and just needed to pack. I took a last walk around Wellington, visiting the City and Sea museum by the waterfront, walking around to Te Papa, walking back up Courtenay place, up Cuba street to get myself a burger (from a van that Sophie had taken me and Simon in April after paddle boarding), walking back through the streets and back up to the flat. I met up with Anne, the new girl for the room, to swap bank details. I met up with my friend Megan the lawyer not the bus friend, at her new place near The Terrace. I went via the Botanics and it was night time, but I managed alright. I only stayed a few hours with Megan as her flatmate made dinner, and I wasn't included. I got curry on the way home, the same little place around the corner where Cass and I had gone for dinner one night. I had a last natter with Cass and went to bed then, but got up at 4.30 to pack, shower and wash my sheets before I left. My bus was at 7ish, and Cass was leaving for work at the same time, so she helped me with my bags half way. It was a dry day thankfully, and there was the start of a great sunrise. I got Maccy D's for breakfast and got on the bus to Whanganui. It was a four hour journey with a stop in Palmerston North. I took pictures of the coast as we drove up it, discovering an island I never knew was there, because it had always been dark when I went past it before. I had a coffee while I waited in Palmy and chatted to the bus driver, before we headed off again to Whanganui. Goodbye Wellington!