Wet in Wellington (Friday)

So yesterday evening we set off for Mt Victoria at around half 7. It probably took us about 35 minutes to get to the summit. It's not a very tall mountain but at certain points it was very steep and we were all quite proud of ourselves for making it. 

From the top we got fantastic 360° views across Wellington, the surrounding mountains and the bay. It was quite cloudy so we didn't think we would get to see the sunset. But we were treated to amazing sky that started a pinky colour before turning orange and then red. It was fabulous. We also saw planes landing at the airport. We saw these two planes with multi coloured lights taking off and flying around and an older gentlemen (who we decided was called Stan - real name unknown) told us there was supposed to be pyrotechnics and these planes were supposed to be putting on a show. We waited a while whilst the planes flew around the bay and then we saw them land. It turned out Stan had driven 40km to see these supposed show and was quite disappointed. We felt so bad for him. He overheard us talking about walking back down the hill and offered us a lift. We said we were going to stay at the top of the hill a bit longer to watch some people who had just started blowing giant bubbles. He said he would be in the car park for a few minutes in a white car if we wanted a lift. 

After about 5 minutes we started heading down the hill, which takes you into the car park, and we saw a white sports car that was all pimped out pull out of a space. Because of the type of car we assumed it wasn't Stan but he pulled up in front of us and offered as a lift again. He was so sweet and we felt so bad for him so we decided to accept. There was 4 of us after all and one of him. After a couple of wrong turns and almost getting us killed he dropped us off just round the corner from the hostel. He was such a babe!

When we got back we took advantage of  the free and 2 for 1 drinks before heading to bed.  

Today it's welly weather in Wellington. It's been raining all day non stop. Which is a massive shame because a lot of the things to do in Wellington are outside. This morning we wandered down Cuba Street, which was supposed to be a nice little street full of cafes and shops but it was pretty average. I don't know if it was just because of the rain, meaning it wasn't as bustling and exciting or not. It had a pretty cool fountain though, and the green men at the pedestrian crossing were green women (see photo). After this we wandered round the city hall, library and art gallery area by the waterfront and towards the national museum of New Zealand - Te Papa. We looked around an exhibit about refugees who have come to New Zealand and also saw replicas of the Treaty of Waitangi. 

After this we headed back to the hostel for lunch. We ended up staying for quite a while trying to figure out what we could do.

Eventually we found a Friday night market that started at 5pm so we headed over to that and it was a total disappointment. I don't know if it was because of the rain (again) but there was about 5 stall's and 3 of  them were selling Chinese dumplings.

The other two girls have suggested the quiz night at the hostel this evening so we have just packed our stuff and that's our plan for this evening. I'll let you know how we do in tomorrow's post.

Tomorrow we leave Wellington at 7:30am to get the ferry across to the South Island, which despite not being that far (we saw it from the bus yesterday before we got into Wellington), will take 3 hours. Tomorrow is going to be a very boring day.