My apologies to everyone who checks my blog.
At the hostel, I found that I just didn't have the time to write. As soon as you sit down, somebody you know comes over and talks to you and asks you if you fancy doing this or that and you just have to go along with it.
I was having a drink one night with some of my friends that I'd made on the first night and I got talking to someone who'd just moved in. Micheal, a gay guy from North London who is studying at the University of East Anglia and currently doing a semester abroad at the University of Melbourne. We hit it off immediately and as my wine was running low and he didn't have anything with him to drink, I asked him if he wanted to go and find a club. Basically after a crazy night getting home at 4am we spent most of our time together for the rest of the week. Visiting places and having lunches and going out in the evenings and he made my time at Habitat hostel very bearable! It was very sad when we had to say goodbye to one another on Monday night but I really hope that we'll keep in touch, especially once he returns back to London in the Summer.
I'm in Wellington now and I will be able to update more regularly as I'm on my own.
So yesterday. Which was the first of March.
I woke up at 4am. I hadn't had a lot of sleep as the girls in my room had had a lot of fun during the night rustling plastic bags, which is my new pet hate. Then my Dad accidentally called my phone at 1:30am so I was very tired once I woke up. I went and had a shower and packed up my things and was downstairs ready to check out and wait for my shuttle bus by 5am. I was a little sad to leave Habitat hostel. I realised that I'd had some good times and I knew my way around the St Kilda area. But I was also terribly excited to be heading to my dream destination of New Zealand. As I waited outside for the bus, the usual prostitutes were still patrolling the street which made me think that if it were a normal night, Mikey and I would probably still be out drinking and just coming back with one of our kebabs that we used to treat ourselves to in the small hours of the morning.
Melbourne airport was dead. I had an expensive breakfast which was delicious. Buttery, fluffy scrambled eggs on toast and a pain au chocolate toasted just enough so that the rich chocolate oozed out all over my hands and got all over my face. I made my way to the gate and laid my things out on the chair using them as a pillow. The flight was running late so I decided it would be a good time to give people from home a quick call as my minutes are set to renew on the 3rd I believe. When I boarded the plane, I was sat right at the back in my requested seat (I wanted to be at the back to that I could take pictures without the wing being in the shot). It was a small plane, 29 rows with three seats each side. The last three rows, both sides of the plane, were filled with a Vietnamese tourist group on their way to tour New Zealand. Among those 18 seats, there was one with a white English speaking tourist. And that was me.
The flight was a breeze. Literally. As we came into land, the wind really picked up and the ride got very bumpy. We flew in over Nelson and the Malborough Sounds (the view I got of those from the sky was absolutely amazing). We came into land over the sea and you basically passed over a road and there was the runway, with either a sea or a large lake on the other side of the runway (I could see this would be a great place for accidents to happen!). The airport itself was based in a bay with lots of green hills and houses that I could see nestled within. The man at immigration was the friendliest guy on a border that I've ever met! Asking me about university and my job and telling me just to look after myself being a single female traveller. It was very refreshing and a nice way to be greeted into the country. My shuttle was right outside the doors once I'd passed through security, so I grabbed some money from the ATM to pay for my accommodation and off we went.
I was pressed up against the glass the whole way. The city itself didn't really look like much. It could have just been Melbourne. Grey, populated. But as we left, we began running along by the sea and climbing up hills with beautiful green forests all around and houses built high up in them. The city reminds me of a sea side down, with lots of different coloured homes made of wood with balconies and decking attached.
Plimmerton is around 20kms outside the city of Wellington, so as we drove closer to that, the scenery became more and more beautiful. Somebody who lives here would probably tell you that it's not very nice here at all, but it is in my eyes. The houses on Moana Road are all different colours and different styles and all in layers as you head up the hills. Moana Lodge is a big white wooden building among all the houses with hills behind it and the sea just in front, with a little small sandy beach and patches of vibrant volcanic rock.
I checked in and was shown all around. I'm on the ground floor with one other bedroom and a bathroom that we share. There's a dining area, a large kitchen, and a living area with the most breath taking view of the sea and islands in the distance. Apparently on a clear day you can see right across to the South Island. There's a cute little courtyard outside too which I think would be a lovely place for a glass of wine if you caught a nice evening. Even though there is a road outside, it's still so lovely and peaceful here. Which is a good job, seeing as it's such a hassle to get into Wellington city itself, I will be quite happy spending a lot of my time just here. There's a lot of beaches and hills that I can explore on foot.
I don't think that any written description of this place that I give would do it justice. I can't upload any pictures while I'm here because the wireless internet does have a hefty charge attached so you'll just have to wait.
The only downside about this fantastic place is the fact that it's a 2km walk to the nearest village and a 5km walk to the supermarket, and this upset me very greatly. I dumped my things and took a walk to the village to get some takeout. I bought a bottle of water and some fish and chips and walked it the whole way back to the lodge and found a bench just outside facing the beach where I sat and had my supper, joined by a whole flock of seagulls pacing back and forth and just waiting for me to drop a chip. I really wanted to watch the sun set but the clouds began to keep in, so I could only see the sunshine get less bright as it faded into night time.
I came back to my room and got into my pyjamas and watched a film until I fell asleep, listening to the wind howling and the sea bashing on the rocks outside. Wellington definitely lives up to it's "windy city" title.
Apparently during the night, there was an earthquake of 4.5 magnitude, but I must have slept through it...
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