We decided to treat ourselves in Wellington and live the high life by staying in a YHA! The unlimited warm showers (I was able to wash my hair) and comfy mattress was definitely a treat! We wandered round the city on the Friday afternoon. We popped in to see my friend Lauren who had moved to Wellington from the UK and set up a gallery an craft shop - 'Matchbox Wellington' with her partner Cherry. It is amazing what they have done! They have definitely inspired me to stop thinking about things that I want to do and actually do them! That evening we went to see James Bond 'Skyfall' . . . Yet another treat! On Saturday James hired a mountain bike and went and explored the tracks around Wellington for the day. He had a great time. I went and had a wonder around the city. It was really good timing that weekend as it was the build up to the world premier of 'The Hobbit' so the city was full of window displays, flags, sculptures of Gandalf, people walking around dressed as Orks, elves, hobbits and dwarfs etc. The city itself is awesome, the architecture is cool, there is a lot of thought to bridges, sculptures and general design to the city. The atmosphere is really cool. Walking down Cuba Street was just like walking through the North Laines of Brighton. I went back and hung out with Lauren and had a good old catchup. James came and met us and then we split for dinner. We met up with Lauren that night and had a good night out in the city! It was the first time we had been out drinking in civilisation in 6 weeks and it was a cool place to do it especially with Lauren as she know all the good places to go! The next day (with slightly fuzzy heads!) we wandered round town and then went to The Hobbit market . . . They had set up a park on the seafront with market stalls, they were doing egg and spoon races and fancy dress competitions (Hobbit themed!). It was so cool but the best thing was the big screen where they were showing the blog of the making of The Hobbit! It was so exciting, especially as it was all set in NZ. Then we found out that they were screening The Fellowship Of The Rings in the evening! We scooted back to the YHA for layers and then spent the evening with hundreds of people sat in the park watching The Lord Of The Rings. It was a pretty perfect end to our Wellington stay. We are looking forward to popping in on our way back though to see Lauren and Cherry again and see a big more of the city.
The next morning was an early one, scrambling all our things together and heading to the ferry,(managed to get there nearly hour early, very rare!!) The journey being windy, but calm, we spent the whole journey outside on top deck:- please make the most of photos when they finally appear! The experience through The Marlbourgh Sound was pritty special even with two dozen school children running about, looking on inland to see where they would be camping for the rest of that week! (Lucky kids!! All the other kids we've seen are in exams!) All in all a cool school trip, as this place is amazing! Rolling hills, forests and islands with beautifully clear blue green water between them. Now very excited about the South Island!!