Jo's Blog

OK so it’s been a while but I’ve finally got around to it!  Job and apartment hunting have been great fun as I’m sure you can imagine… hhmmmm well!  When I left you last I was just moving into a new place, which I loved (yes post tense I’ll explain in a minute!)  The photo shows the view we had from this place!  Amazing!  It was half way up Mount Victoria so the walk kept me fit, and the house was pretty average (a bit of a dump if you’re a snob, which us backpackers cannot be!), but we had a decking area out the front where you could sit in the sun and take in this amazing view!

 

 

 

While I was living here and looking for a job I got out and about in Wellington and have seen most of the sights!  There is a huge museum here called Te Papa, which is free and has heaps of exhibitions all about New Zealand and it’s history.  I’ve been to a wildlife sanctuary as well, the botanical gardens and the local beaches.  Wellington is a pretty cool place and the wind seems to have calmed down a bit now that summer has finally arrived so it’s all good!  As you can see I went roller blading which I suck at but was really fun!  This is down at the harbour in the city centre, I just about managed not to fall in the water!

Hhhhmmm what else have I done here… been out a lot before I got a job so now I have to do some serious saving!  It’s so easy to spend money here!

 

Sadly we got chucked out of the house with the amazing view and so I had to find a new place.  This is a whole new chapter of my trip!  I was desperate to find a place and it was coming up to a huge AC DC concert here in Wellington so all the hostels were booked out.  I answered an add in the local supermarket for a room to rent, and ended up living with a 63 year old lady called Margaret!  Now that might sound a little boring, but this is her book that I am reading!!!  She has had the most exciting life and has even been a showgirl so she was really excited when I said I used to do cabaret!  She has a friend called Tony who is eccentric to say the least, and his alter ego is the Duke of Wellington, which he dresses up as for functions and parties and has loads of fun with.  Between the two of them they make my stay there very interesting and we even have dinners and watch movies together!  They are even throwing a party at the end of February in my honour, which will be tremendous fun I can tell!

 

Ok so apart from all that I now have a job on reception in an office until the end of the month, and I am working Friday and Saturday nights in a club down the road which is really fun.  This prevents me from going out and spending any money for the next few weeks so I can get some saving done, as this is hard to do in the capital city where every night is Saturday night!

This weekend was Rugby Sevens here in Wellington, which essentially means a 48 hour party!  Although it’s supposed to be about the sport and teams from all over the world play, most people here use it as an excuse to dress in fancy dress and get absolutley slaughtered Friday and Saturday night until the early hours!  I didn’t get much chance to take photos as I was working both nights, but this is the main street in Wellington, which they completely closed off last night for one huge street party!  Some of the costumes people have are awesome, and even working behind the bar you are still part of the party scene and happily I was earning money while others were drinking away their weeks wages!

 

 

Yesterday was Waitangi Day here in New Zealand, which celebrates the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, New Zealands founding document.  Here in Wellinton yesterday that meant the One Love Concert, which is a Reggae  tribute to Bob Marley.  It was crazy hot yesterday and we went along to relax in the sun and listen to the music.  This was a nice chill out session before the mayhem that was about to commence on the streets of the city!

The party is such a huge thing in comparison to the Rugby, that I really have no idea who even won the final!  Although to be honest I am not really too bothered!  I saw the parade on Thursday on my lunch from work, where all the teams from all over the world go by on floats, and I couldn’t have named a single person there!

 

Alrighty so that was a really quick summary of what has been going on in my life here in Wellington.  In short I have been enjoying myself and now I’m working hard to be able to enjoy myself some more!  No idea how much l0nger I will stay in Wellington for, it all depends on jobs and a place to live.  I will more than likely catch up with you all again when I leave here.  Until them… hope all is good in the UK and don’t eat yellow snow.  xoxox