Wellington,
North Island,
New Zealand
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
welcome to the new zealand's north island and its capital city, Wellington. known for its unbelievable winds, cafe/bar culture and the national Te Papa museum, wellington sits on the north side of Cook Strait. like most capital cities, it is the center of government; but unlike some large cities around the world, it has a "heart", or in other words, a city center or a personality. it's got courtney place, a long street lined on both sides with restaurants, coffee shops, pubs and shops. manners mall is an outdoor mall of sorts and lampton quay has its own flavor of urbanity. surprisingly, eunice and i spend quite a bit of time here and even came back for one night. it's not that the city was so irresistible. we had made arrangements to meet some friends. with Chris we checked out the Mac Brewery and ate indian for lunch; Catherine housed us for two nights and for her hospitality, we cooked kimchee jjigae for her (it was SO nice eating korean for the first time in 5 months!). sitting at Red Rock beach and catching up on our lives since Laos where we met was good too. then another night we went to this really good place called Cornerstone in Brooklyn for NZ mussels, rack of lamb, puff pastries and Monteith's beer (easily my favorite in New Zealand... there isn't even a close second!)... there are a bunch of pubs all around Wellington. And to keep the customers coming, each night has a special activity. here, for example, they had Pub Quiz night. 5 rounds, 5 categories, you work in teams and answer questions. winners get free food or a free round of drinks at the following weeks quiz night... Catherine, eunice and i started off well (first place in fact) and quickly dropped to third before finishing last with the music round... but it was good food, great drinks and a fun night!
other than friends, we checked out Mt Victoria Lookout over Wellington and its buildings nestled among several bays. it reminds us of a San Francisco with a more dramatic setting... we also went up the cable car and went for a walk through the botanical gardens.. pleasant. and one night, we just sat around before deciding to watch Kidman and Jackman in Australia.. we'd recommend it. it was actually a good movie...
