There Are Penguins In New Zealand: Windy Welly

Hello friends!

SO, here we go:

I've been in Wellington for a little over a week now, and boy, do I like this city! Everyone here is so friendly. A few days ago we were downtown trying to meet up with some other people but we weren't sure where the restaurant they were at was located so we asked someone on the street if they knew, and 4 people ended up stopping to help point us in the right direction.

After the pretty plane ride I got all moved into my apartment. The place I'm living in is kind of like a townhouse, where the top floor is all one apartment, and the second floor is an entirely separate apartment, but it's all in the same house. I live with 3 other people; Hanah, who is from New Zealand, and the other 2 are Brian and Tom, who are both from the U.S. Oh my goodness, I live with boys, how scandalous...! Also, every house on the street that I live on are students, which is pretty cool. So far I don't mind living here, especially when comparing it to the dorms, which was my other option. However, I have found the ONE thing in this city that I may have a slight dislike towards...all the hills! New Zealand is quite a mountainous/hilly country, and Wellington is no exception to this. I live on the top of one of these hills, which isn't bad going to campus, but it sucks when having to walk back from downtown, especially after buying groceries. I have made the following rule for myself: anything that fits in the basket at the grocery store I can buy, anything that doesn't fit has to be bought on a different day, because I won't be able to carry it all up the hill. Even in the "shortcuts" that I have found, I still have to stop about 3 times to catch my breath! Hopefully I'll get used to them soon....hopefully....

That Thursday and Friday were spent in school orientation sessions and enrolling in classes for the semester, and wandering around the city, trying to get a sense of where everything is.

Saturday was the Cuba Street Carnival (Cuba St is a street downtown) which is apparently the biggest carnival in New Zealand, or something like that. There was music, food, craft stands, entertainment, and a parade in the evening.

Monday we went to the Wellington Botanical Gardens, which are just up the road from where I live. Hooray nature!

I especially enjoyed this flower bed; I liked how the rows alternated between red and white. I think it looks cool...!

Then we went and explored down by the harbor (or harbour, if you're a kiwi) and I snapped this wonderful photograph

Thursday afternoon was spent on top of Mt. Victoria, which I believe is the highest point in Wellington, but I'm not sure. From up there you can see the entire city, which was pretty awesome! Also, I guess some of the Lord of the Rings scenes were filmed up there, but we didn't know where to look...

Then, on Friday (which would have been yesterday), 4 of us girls went to the South Island for the day and went on a wine tour of the Marlborough area. Apparently, if you buy a bottle of wine from New Zealand, it probably came from the Marlborough region. We only visited 4 wineries, but the list of the ones we could go to probably contained around 35 to 40 different wineries. So, now I at least know a little bit about wine, other than the fact that it can come in white or red...!

To get over to the South Island, we took a ferry that leaves from the harbor in Wellington, travels through the Cook Strait, and ends in the town of Picton on the South Island. It takes about 3 1/2 hours to get there. A large part of the ferry ride isn't through the open water of the Strait, but through the Marlborough Sounds of the South Island. And once again, gosh darn it, it was pretty. That seems to be the theme so far on this little adventure I am on...!