Woes of Wellington and "The Queen"

Our brief encounter with Wellington was full of anger and dissapointment. To cut a very long dispute short our hostel that we'd booked wasn't far off a squat! No heating, very dingy and absolutely appauling management. Immediatly after we'd checked out our room we returned to reception to ask if the heating could be turned on (as my fingers and toes were turning a light shade of blue) to which the immature emo (emo: short for emotional, black wearing moody teen) behind the counter replied, "Errr...well the heating isn't working ummm right now but once I've hung these decorations up Ill see what I can do!" We decided if Christmas decorations were of more significance than their customers comfort then we wanted to get a refund and the hell out of there. We trapsed downstairs with our now very heavy bags only to be told under no circumstances were refunds given. What followed was an arguement with the pervy owner, the emo in tears, a manager who "wasnt available" and two very irrate travellers! Once the owner had called us spoilt brats for wanting some heating I'd had enough and told him to keep his money (two nights board, 35pound) as judging by his grubby clothes he needed it far more than we did! The whole ordeal lasted about two hours, we were so exhausted and anoid we'd lost our money but somehow satisfied because we told him a few home truths about his business and management. The pay back will come soon in many ways, so dont think for a second we've let this drop I'm contacting the tourist board and we're schemeing a few more annoying stunts such as phantom customers needing pick ups from the ferry terminal! Any ideas let us know!! That evening our impressions of the dump were comfirmed by our new (very nice) hostel when their response to our experience was, "oh dear, not a good choice girls."

You may be wondering what or who "The Queen" in the title of this journal refers to, well none other than cheif Queen Sir Elton John. Unfortunately for us he was performing in Wellington the following day so all accomadation had been booked out in the city and our three day break had been quickly shortened to less than 24hrs. The following day we said "cheerio" to a very camped up Wellington, and headed for Napier. So that was our encounter with Elton, it was a sad sad situation indeed!!!

As it turned out Elton did us a favour, Napier was our saving grace and we enjoyed three days of sun, culture and relaxation on the East coast. Having suffered from a devastating earthquake in 1931, measuring 7.9 on the Richter scale the entire city was destroyed. On the bus journey there was met a guy from town whos Grandmother witnessed the quake on her first day at school, needless to say on the second day the school no longer existed. 162 people died and the land rose by up to two meters, however the catastrophe instigated fresh architectual ideas and an opportunity to create an innovative new version of the city. Thus, Napier was reborn into the Art Deco capital of the world that it is today. Sam loves the whole era - think cigerette holders, vintage cars, straw hats and striped suits for the gents, dresses, hats and fur shrugs for the ladies. It's a very trendy era at the moment with Christina Aguilera's latest video highly influenced by the club scene and all the old style Cadbury, Cola signs all illustrating the decorative style of the times. Perhaps the next fancy dress could be Art Deco inspired girls?

So, feeling like we were back in the 1930's we doop dooped our way around town soaking up the rays alongside the architecture. We also ventured out of town to witness the world of sheep shearing and all the wonderous garments made from NZ wool - baaah. I'm on a severe budget over the next two weeks (1.50/day spending money) as there's so much to do in every town here that its hard to not feel guilty for leaving certain attractions out. However, it'll be worth it for the skydive and Moari night we have planned in the upcoming week. We're travelling north to Lake Taupo and Rotorua next, both within the epicentre of NZ's geothermal activity.

Speak soon, miss you lots

Jess and Sammy - Perhaps our Flashpacking days are over?!