Day 7.

Up early to cach a lift with the 2 German girls to Wellington. They were pretty cool actually so the 6hr drive wasn’t as bad as it could be. They shared my passion for reality TV so we chatted all things Big Brother, Love Island and German equivalents J

We met up with Anna after work and took the train back home with her. Her house is amazing. Wellington is set in a huge, almost full circular bay and her house is set on a hill with amazing views. There are HUGE windows to the front of the house, so wherever you are, you can look out and see right across the bay. They paid just £100k for this house a few years ago and anywhere else in the world it would easily be worth £1m plus. We’re pretty lucky!

Anna’s husband, Ian, did a cracking bbq for dinner which made a welcome change from super noodles and bread. When it was dark Anna drove us to Mount Victoria (a hill on the other side of Wellington Bay), which is the exclusive part of town and has excellent views of the city. The view was breath taking and reminded me of pictures of Hong Kong I’d seen taken across the river. Because it was dark we couldn’t get any decent pictures ourselves (but I liked the view so much I got a postcard of it the next day). As it was a clear night Anna pointed out the Southern Cross. Apparently you cant see it in the Northern Hemisphere and I’m glad I was told this because I can defiantly see me showing off and trying to show people back home like a complete dickhead J .

Day 8.

We had a full day in Wellington and saw the museum and cable car. We met Anna for lunch in a place called Burger Fuel, which is a posh Burger King. The burgers are bigger than your head and blimmin’ gorgeous, I was in heaven.

Although its much smaller, I really like Wellington for the same reasons I liked Auckland. There seemed to be quite a few bars, restaurants and shops. It’s a shame I couldn’t see either place at a weekend, but I get the impression it would also be a bloody good night out.

We had a pretty quiet evening. Ian showed us some old Russian submarine dumping grounds on google earth then we had another look/lesson on what stars are what. Its strange that I used to be fascinated by this type of thing as a kid, but I cant remember the last time I actually noticed the sky at night, so it was pretty cool.

We are both really chuffed that Anna and Ian put us up for a couple of nights , cooked us some brilliant food and looked after us really well. It was really good to see them again and we can’t thank them enough. We feel like we have just spent the past few nights in Beverly Hills and it will be a shock to go back to hostel life! J .

Foot update - The swelling has gone down quiet a bit since I started the stronger antibiotics/had it opened. I walked all round Wellington today without limping, although I did give in and had an afternoon pint (the 1st in a week)….I deserved it.