Wellington didnt have much of a chance since I arrived there sick and a bit down in the dumps as a result. Our driver for this section, Dusty, was the total opposite. He was a real livewire and was always chipping in on the mike with funny comments about various things and was just full of enthusiasm. Our main photostop was atop Mt Victoria which is beside Wellington. From here we got a good view of the city and the outlying bay. After this we went down into the city itself and everyone got off to check into their respective hostels. I wouldnt be using a hostel this time round as I had plans to couchsurf while I was in town. I had to wait until my host finished work first so I dossed around the city for a while using the internet and just getting some hot drinks into me. Then it was time to catch the bus out to one of the suburbs. All this was fine and I arrived at the house ok, sadly there was nobody there to greet me. I stuck around for about a half hour and realised there was a massive traffic jam just around the corner, a bus was blocking both flows. This meant wherever my host was she wouldnt be home anytime soon. I had no phone to get in touch with her and was starting to get cold as well so decided to abandon this couchsurfing attempt at least for one night. Lucky for me a friendly guy walking past was able to advise me on my best route back into the city centre which conveniently took me past his house so I walked with him for a bit before he showed me the entrance to the botanic gardens where there is a cable car down the hill into the city centre. So I caught that into town and walked to the nearest hostel to book in. After I got that sorted I bought a call card and got in touch with my would be host and let her know what had happened and that I would try catch up with her when she was in the city the following day. With all that done it wasnt long before I crashed into bed.
The next day started pretty sluggishly. I had no major plans for the day bar hitting the free museum and tracking down this couchsurfer. I achieved one of those goals. By the late morning I was wandering around Te Papa, the free national museum in Wellington. Its a really amazing complex comprising several floors and takes in everything from the geological history of New Zealand to the Maori history with everything in between and a few quirky sideshows thrown in for good measure. I spent a good 3 hours walking around it and didnt take in everything, its that big. If you are ever in Wellington it is well worth a visit and is the right price = FREE! In the afternoon I braved the famous winds of the 'Windy City' to search for my couchsurfer. She was supposed to be doing some charity work on one of the major streets but I never saw her. That pretty much killed the whole couchsurfing attempt and I just booked myself in for the remaining two nights in town. I spent the rest of the day chilling in the hostel and went for a few bevvies with a crew from my room. I stuck to the hot toddies to see if they would help shift the flu and had a good laugh with the crew.
My last day in Wellington was a lazy one. I wasnt really in the mood for doing anything in particular so I just hung around the hostel and arranged my travel for the next day. I was starting to feel a bit better due mainly to some stronger meds. Hopefully going to the South Island would give me a boost as well since its supposed to be beautiful and the real reason for visiting NZ!
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