hey.
Finished final exams and decided to go on a two day adventure down in Wellington, which has been described as a cross between San Francisco and Europe. Hearing all of these stories about how windy and cold it is, I brought lots of layers. A friend and I flew in during the evening, after our flight was delayed. Booked a hostel, got some food, and went exploring around the harbor area.
The next day we journied to the Wellington Zoo. I got to stand way too close to a giraffe's gaping jaws, see some baboons run around, feed a chimp an apple (from a safe distance of course, because I enjoy having fingers), and watch Tahi, the famous one legged Kiwi bird eat ox heart. All of the animals were very cool, and also looked very cold.
After the zoo, we went to the museum. It was very large, but had most of the stuff spread out. While I am a fan of culture and history and blah blah blah....I really wanted to go to the museum to gaze upon the COLOSSAL SQUID! It was down right huge. Other great exhibits included a giant Moa getting attacked by a Haast eagle (YES!), a replica of a blue whale's heart that children could climb in, a bright green glowing human skeleton, and a giant light up map of New Zealand that you could walk on.
Walking and standing all day made me hungery for dinner. Ended up going to an Indian food place on the famed Cuba street and then to an Italian eatery that claimed to have the best hot chocolate (pretty much). Went back to the hostel and walked in on a movie playing in the TV lounge, so I have now seen half of "Forgetting Sarah Marshall." I am content with just seeing half.
The next day started with an early morning "fire alarm goes off, grab your shoes, coat, and wallet and abandon the building with 300 other people" bang at 6:15. Rode the cable car in central Wellington. Then headed to Miramar to see WETA Cave, a "mini-museum" (which lived up to it's discription) and gift shop connected to WETA workshop, the effects studio that Peter Jackson cofounded. I can't say that I'm particularly into statues of elven figures or Dr. Who, but this was something my friend wanted to see, and I had already gotten my choice with the zoo.
The flight back to Auckland was delayed, but we managed to fight our way back through rush hour traffic to arrive back at the International House in time for dinner. It was a good mini trip, and I would like to go back to Wellington again to explore more.
