My 3 days in Wellington have been good fun, meeting new people, doing touristy things like museums, just taking a nice break from 'Stray' adventures really which I think I needed;

So Monday I headed to the Zealandia Sanctuary and ended up spending the rest of the day with two German girls I met there. We walked around the botanical gardens, which was really pretty and had a good view of the city and then we went for coffee in the town. It was a very relaxed day, enjoying the sights of the city.

On Tuesday I went to check of the 'Weta caves' - this is where Lord of the rings and various other film props were created. The guide was one of the 'painters' so he was explaining the process of how everything was made from the big scenery to little props/costumes...and basically anything that the camera wasn't able to shoot realistically. They created EVERYTHING, it was interesting (but not sure it was worth $20)! I jumped back on the bus to have a guided tour of the Parliament building (yes that's right, I thought I'd try and learn something whilst I was here!) The government building is nicknamed the 'bea hive', literally because it looks like a bea hive! The most interesting thing about it was how they made it 'earthquake proof'. So I ended up chatting with a German traveller who was hitch-hiking his way down New Zealand and an English guy who was driving around. We all got on well so decided to go for a coffee and chat. I then went to my physiotherapy appointment I booked the previous day to find out what damage I had actually done to my ankle. He seemed to think I had damaged my AFL, basically rolled my foot well and truely - guess it wasn't the best news, but it could have been worse. So he strapped it up with a load of tape...and when I say a load of tape, I really mean it, i could hardly bend my foot at all..hence I ended up looking a right twit walking back to the hostel hobbling along a great deal more than before. I guess that was the point of the strapping - I give him 20 out of 10 for that effort. Lol. I met Josh and German guy at the theatre as we decided to watch a 'Space' show for the evening which was quite random but rather entertaining and then we headed for another beer in a cool cosy pub close by with log fires and really comfy seats J.

It was another educational day on Wednesday; a 3 hour visit to Te Papa Museum, an 1 hour spent in the Museum of City and Sea then a bus to Mount Victoria where you could get a 360 degree view of the city which was pretty damn cool in the clouds! J I headed back down and spent an hour in a chocolate cafe just opposite my physio, and wrote a bit more of my blog before my appointment. I returned to my hostel to discover that we could get a free BBQ! So I met Tristan in the bar & some fellow X-Base workers whilst tucking into a steak, sausage and pasta dish YUM! It was quiz night too, so the place was packed! We also tried out the Welsh pub which was just down the road as my room mate invited me along so I dragged Tristan and the rest of the group to go there too! It was a good night and a really cool Welsh bar, with proper Welsh people behind the bar and a guy playing the piano too! I wasn't even planning to go out that night, so headed back at midnight to pack my stuff and have a shower...

So I may have slept through my alarm, and so did Tristan...I woke up at 6.55pm. We had planned to leave the hostel at 6.30am to be at the ferry for 7am. Ops! So i jumped out of bed, threw my bags on my back, grabbed Tristan out of his room and we jumped in a taxi down the road. Somehow we just made it in time PHhew!!! I haven't done that before J

On the ferry everyone was sleeping...I did some research about the South Island and enjoyed the views! We jumped on the Stray bus and headed to Nelson...where I 'hopped off again' and went to TasminBay hostel which is So cute and cosy and for $25 a night I get free chocolate pudding, free breakfast, free tea and coffee and surprisingly free wifi! I'm currently sat by the log fire listening to a guy play the classical guitar. It's so nice here. It feels like my living room J really chilled place. I went to grab some food and met up with Josh (English guy I met in Wellington). We went to the information centre and planned our 2 day walk for tomorrow...it's going to be FUN! Can't wait and it's only $5 to stay in the hut...yey my first cheap night here!

So it's currently 11pm, and I'm well and truly knackered one may say (sorry mum for using that word!) but I look it too so I must head to bed...

Night, buenas noches, bon nuit (just showing I'm still learning my French and Spanish on my app! Hehe)