Stop 1: Wellington

Wow, the start of my trip feels forever ago. Almost seven weeks now, and there’s so much I didn’t get to see. It really is impossible to travel in this country and not still feel like you missed out on something. At first when I got here I was disappointed in how much America had infiltrated this country. I have come to embrace it though, especially when it means the music of choice is all the outdated goodies you never hear anymore. I started off my trip with a kind cold which fortunately just meant I had lost my voice, so I still got to do everything I wanted.

I started off going straight down to Wellington. I met Laura, an Irish girl, on the bus on the way down and we became sightseeing friends. The first day we went up the cable car to the botanical gardens (which I have now learned are not all that exciting in the winter, especially the rose gardens). The view was pretty awesome and the cable car museum was interesting. We walked down and then caught a bus to Zealandia, a bird sanctuary. We got there just in time for the eel feeding, but no eels showed up.

View of Wellington from the Cable Car

The next day we went to the Te Papa museum. Apparently you could spend two days in there reading everything, but fortunately Laura and I had the same idea and we finished it in about two hours. One thing I have been extremely impressed by here is the effort the country puts into their museum and displays. The Te Papa museum is four stories with very intricate displays and is completely free. And it’s not the only one. Even in the middle of nowhere, if tourists stop there, you can be sure to find a really fancy display with information about the area, wildlife and history. Then we went and climbed Mt. Victoria for a nice view of the city (see pictures).

Giant Squid in the Te Papa museum

View of Wellington from Mt. Victoria

I really liked the hostel I stayed in and made a lot of friends. I was really surprised at how many people are living in the hostel. When I came back a little over a month later most all of them were still there. I have also been really surprised to find that almost everyone I have met here is doing a working holiday. I don’t know that I have met anyone travelling for less than two weeks and anyone here for under a month says it’s not near enough time.