Wellington Hotels
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The Umbrella Graveyard
Entry 58 of 84 | show all | print this entry |
"Do you like those hills and all that wind?
I had a sneaky peek in Soph's Lonely Planet before I came back to New Zealand. It lists a 'must-do' in Wellington as: "Discuss Kafka over a strong black espresso in a Bohemian cafe." I intend to use the next couple of months to determine whether the people of Wellington are in fact wankers, or if it's just the Lonely Planet writers.
One of my biggest pet hates of backpacking is how people dismiss the cities as 'just another city'. I reckon each one definitely has its own flavour and I'm enjoying getting to know this place.
To save money while I got myself set up in Wellington I camped in a backpackers in town. The first night was freezing and I ended up using every piece of clothing in my possession to try to stay warm. The second night I got a blanket.
Wellington is as windy as everyone says and some nights camping were unlike anything I've ever experienced. My tent took a real battering and it scared the crap out of me.
Yesterday I came home and found that the wind had finally got the better of Tenty McTenterson. A pole had snapped and the whole thing collapsed with all my stuff in. An odd feeling to return home and find your house crumbled to the ground. Felt like one of those people in a natural disaster documentary. Truly crushed. Everything I own. My home! Tent Aid. Somewhere in South America a butterfly is laughing her ass off.
So I've moved in to a cheap dorm room for the time being. I'd forgotten the potentially great and random conversations you have as an independent in a shared room. It's only for a few days and then I move in to a proper flat.
I got a job, my 16th (sixteenth) since I started this trip, within a few days of being back in the country. I'm working as an accounts clerk (overpaid data entry) and hopefully the office wages will help me save more, allowing me to fly out of this hemisphere. It seems pretty laid back and a decent place to work. The office has a superb view out in to the harbour as I'm in one of the tallest buildings in Wellington. Might be a possible terrorist target if the Kiwis had any interaction with other countries that didn't involve rugby.
I'm working for the government, as most people in this city do, so for the forseeable future I'll be shaking things up and [insert pun here] down at the NZ Earthquake Commission. As an Irish guy put it, "It sounds like something made up to create a few jobs." But believe it or not I can actually see the purpose of this place.
Now I intend to switch on to auto-pilot, put the head down for the next couple of months, and try to save money for the journey back west. I watched 'The Actors' the other night and for the first time in 2 years I got a short-lived bit of an inkling to go home. Good movie which I'd wanted to see for a while. When they were making it they asked to film some scenes in our gaff but my Mum said no since she loves her white carpet more than her children. (Can someone email me an mp3 of the opening song?)
And I was talking to a guy in work who was in Dublin recently. He asked what I thought of the LUAS and I had to admit it wasn't around when I was home so didn't know. He then went on to talk about the smoking ban, which I also missed, and I realised that it's definitely about time I started thinking about the return journey.
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