Wellington - Capital punishment!
Trip Start
Jun 12, 2008
1
15
Trip End
Sep 04, 2008
Wellington, North Island, New Zealand
Friday, October 24, 2008
Wellington is also home to the 'Beehive', the Kiwi Parliament and various other important political buildings. It also houses the New Zealand Museum, or as it's more commonly known, 'Te Papa'. This is one of the best museums I've ever been to, and a definite 'must see'. Anyway, enough of the boring facts, what occurred in our 3 days in Welly?
The first part of our Northern adventure involved finding the hostel, which wasn't too difficult as the bus driver took us straight there. Decent location too, by the Basin Reserve and a good room for yours truly and the Posh boys, meeting a bloke called Rich from Wales and another, rather strange geezer from Scotland who was there working, and to be fair to all in the room as he introduced himself, loved a brass. Oh well, Jocks eh? After fucking him off, we did a quick tour, got as far as Dominoes and had dinner. Danny, unfortunately, had been right under the weather and I had developed a nasty case of bites around my legs; apparently from the cheap cords I had purchased for pub golf, so off to the twenty-four hour pharmacy for both of us. Danny's explanation of his illness was simple, the fit little sort behind the counter was convinced mine were a result of some STD however, and I had to explain, rather embarrassingly that it wasn't. Not that she understood a word I said; apparently I talk a tad quick. Unfortunately it would not be my last trip to the same place that week, but we'll come to that later.
After this, we headed back and down to the bar and by 10.30pm, young Jack and Danny had had enough, yet myself and Sam went out and explored the main nightlife street of Wellington, which took us about 15 minutes, and we ended up parking ourselves in a decent place at first then another bar that seemed smart initially, until we ventured in and found it was karaoke night. Pissed Kiwi girls screaming Whitney's biggest hits only seemed fun for one drink and then it was off to bed, where apart from getting woken up by the Jock stumbling in at 5am, had a good night's sleep; he duly explained he'd met a girl and gone back to hers only to be kicked out at 4am; in everyone else's language he'd got a brass and paid until 4am.
The next morning we had decided to visit Te Papa, and after a quick bit of breakfast and a stroll around the harbour, off we went to the museum. Now, at this point I must add that Sam had fallen in love with Steph and was spending most of the day trying to get them out with us, which finally worked when both Steph and Heather turned up and like the mature adults we all are, helped us play fancy dress and sherrards in the children's section for two hours!!
After this massive effort of learning, we walked past McDonald's and saw the offer of all offers!! Two big Mac's, one McChicken sandwich, one quarter pounder with cheese, 4 large fries, 4 large soft drinks and six nuggets for 25 kiwi dollars? Game on!! The girls refused to take part in the challenge but the four of us consumed 2 of these between us. A walk back to the hostel followed when Steph spotted a bowling alley and suggested we have a friendly game. Great shout girl!! However, after about three bowls it became apparent I was completely shit at bowling and Steph was, well...outstanding. No hidden agenda there then hey!
After the relative fun and frolics of bowling, it was down to the bar to start another night out on the tiles, where we bumped into a couple of girls from Nottingham, one a tidy sort on her tod, and another who was the most annoying girl ever. Despite our best efforts all night, we could not lose her; incidentally, or coincidentally she fancied Sam, so Sam being Sam; cracked on. After the bars shut we left to go to a club and saw some bloke get stabbed over the most trivial row; it was like slow motion. However, we ended up back in the hostel bar until closing.
Wednesday morning came, the Jock hadn't even returned from the previous night, and I woke up with a shocking throat ache. So, as is best with these situations, I returned to the aforementioned medical centre and had to see a doctor; at sixty notes a necessary inconvenience, who informed me I had tonsillitis, and rather strangely, an ear infection!! The reasons why I got this will not be discussed here, but are a tad embarrassing. This gave me a chance to get a few photos from the Basin Reserve on the walk back and the 4 of us were proper tourists, visiting as many tourist spots as possible and getting the cable car to the top of the city for the botanical gardens and, to be fair, gleaming views.
By the time we returned from our 'day out', the others had arrived and it was a laugh to see Scotty, Phillips, the Ulster boys and Hairy. The drinking commenced and the night was quality, although on Hairy's insistence that we ended on a 'big one', someone ended up with a purchase from 'Europa Bistro' on their credit card statement!!
Overall, Wellington is a decent city, and a good laugh. Onwards and upwards!!
Stay safe everyone, see you all soon!!
Ta, Al xx
