Capital View Motor Inn Wellington

... streets. Did you know that there are three different varieties of potatoes (the fir varieties) that are named after penises? Go figure.

After work, I was given a great meal at Pete’s house and felt very satisfied with the way I had spent the evening. I then drove back to Wellington for another night in the wagon.

I take the ferry tomorrow morning, so I am hoping for a good night’s sleep, calm seas, and nice weather. We’ll see.

... br>
The next day wet, wet, grey and rain. Walking in gore-tex in the wet, grey rain. Alasia and I both have colds, tourists are running from one grey puddle to the next and we're wondering if this makes any kind of sense to be out in the weather. Of course not. But then, big walls of rock rising over 300 meters above us on all sides. All that grey, wet rain made beautiful, waterfalls that fell that entire 300 meters down. Very cool, being ...

Greetings all. Hope you are all well.

To Lingfield running club members - congrats to Rob, Snowy 'et al' for a great sheep rescue! Thanks also to my sisters who continue to make us smile whilst we're away -Steph - for her kiwi/duck confusion & Natasha for being so proud when 2 yr old Rosa asks for mayonnaise (new word) & then fixates on the word boobies! hehe Thank goodness for skype! :)

I have work agreed for a company ...

... on the top bunk. I actually fell off it whilst attempting to climb up into bed. In the morning I was woken by my fantastic friends singing happy birthday with cake and champagne. There was then a slight crisis when I realized I hadn't managed to get myself a ticket for the ferry to Nelson but luckily I managed to get on with the rest of the group. The birthday celebrations then continued all the way to Nelson. A few of the group headed towards the sky diving ...

... and asks for audience comments/feedback. So during his audience interviews, the camera panned to our table and I made it on tv - you know I loved that! After taping, I visited with Caroline and the rest of the show's team for a couple pints, it was a blast. After a long day of travel, though, we wrapped up and I took a cab back to the YHA and crashed. Caroline invited me to join her for dinner the next evening and to stay at her place, so Thursday morning I checked out of ...

... to Mount Cook. Had a look around the Edmund Hillary Alpine Centre, which is in Mt Cook resort, then drove up a side road to the Hooker Valley (no hookers..) and did a couple of short walks. One to the Alpine memorial, a large brick construction, built to commemorate all those that had lost their lives in the area and covered in plaques. The other took us to a swing bridge over the river of melt water coming from the glacier. It was very bouncy and swung from side to side quite nicely ...

... into someone I have already encountered on the Stray bus. This time its Sarah and Andy a couple of American girls who I find in the queue for the cable car. We spend a very pleasant sunny afternoon wandering round the gardens. We part with me promising to meet them in the evening, an appointment I don't manage to keep. I am meeting Dave(the irish guy from Tongariro) in the evening. He is in Wellington visiting a friend and we are heading to the first ...

... The funniest moment of my time in Welly Bells!)
Thanks to time spent with Devon and Marianne (lovely cousins that like animals cept when you eats them).... I do now have to fight the urge to sponsor an elephant. I'll wash one in Thailand instead okay???

So yes, my trip is getting off to a good start, slowly whirring up. I'm feeling more tired than i have felt in a long time because I can finally start to ...

... dass ich doch bestimmt was vom handwerklichen Geschick meines Vaters geerbt haben muss, das Gerät also selbst reparieren kann. Hab mir also einen Satz Präzisionsschraubenzieher gekauft und das Ding komplett auseinandergebaut. Dabei hab ich mir zunächst einen wuchtigen Elektroschock am Blitz zugezogen und bin dann nach Zusammensetzen der Maschine (hatte nur 2 Schrauben übrig...) leider nur durch ein wehleidiges Winseln der Kamera von ihrem terminalen Zustand ...