Gypsy Vibes

Day 206- We spent the day driving with the goal of getting within 'striking distance' to Wellington. We ended up spending the night in Battle Hill at a campground that had true Canadian spirit. What an improvement New Zealand was to Australia as far as campsites go. While in Australia, we spent most of our nights at truck stops and rest areas on the side of the highway but in New Zealand, nature surrounds us.

With fire cautions across the country, we were surprised to hear the ranger tell us we could have a camp fire. Not only that but he directed us to a pile of deadfall to stock up on wood. What a treat. What made it even better was the strong chill in the air that made a fire all the more appropriate. 

Day 207- Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand as well as the second most populated city in the country, with around 400,000 people. We heard from many people that Wellington has quite a bit of culture and apparently it has more bars and restaurants per capita than New York. Needless to say, we planned to spend a few days here. We made it to Wellington early in the afternoon and hit the library for some functional wifi and a cup-a-joe. I had some adjustments to make to my friend Lisa's bachelorette party plans and Mike had business of his own to attend to. 

Mike and I were also excited to be in Wellington because we would get to see some friends that we'd met back in Fiji. Emma and Mohammed were the couple who invited us to our first Kava ceremony and we hit it off with them instantly. We messaged them from the libary and they invited us over to hang out while Mohammed cooked us a delicious dinner. They allowed us to park our home in the driveway and we were happy that we didnt't have to drive far away to sleep. 

Day 208-It was my moms birthday and I had made her a sign to send my good wishes from abroad but I needed a nice backdrop to take the photo. For this, Mike and I went to Mount Victoria and hiked 45 minutes up to capture a great view of Wellington for my mom. The sun was really strong and it was hard to get a photo where you could read the words on the sign. 23 photos, and this was the best one... LOL Good thing Mike's trigger finger is in good shape. 

After our walk/hike we went downtown and saw some of the sights that make Wellington so unique. 

If our hosts weren't already kind enough, they put a cherry on top when Mohammed's mom invited us over for dinner at her house. She cooked up a traditional Iraqi fish dish and it was just the home cooked meal we needed to keep us going. 

His mom lives on a street with a gorgeous view of a nearby bay and the sunset just so happened to be breathtaking that night.

We returned to our friends home and Mike got another treat. Mohammed is a gamer, much like Mike, although I hate to admit it. The two of them with Emma switching in for turns, played video games until the wee hours of the morning and Mike even got to pop up some popcorn! (His favourite food)

                        

Day 209- We started the day off at the mall where we bought some trendy New Zealand pants. We were on a mission to buy some pants for a friend back home and we mentioned it to Emma and Mohammed, hoping they could tell us where to find them. We couldn't remember the brand name so Mike looked through his phone to figure it out. With anticipation surely swirling in the air, Emma and Mo leaned back in their chairs exposing the brandname on the side of their pants or 'uglies' as they called them. No way! They were both wearing a pair of Canterbury pants, the brand we were trying to remember. Apparently they are a huge deal in New Zealand. Naturally we were jealous with the idea that everyone would own a pair of these pants but us, so we vowed to join the cool kids and get some of our own. 

After the mall we went to Cuba street. It is best described as a community of circus folk and gypsy spirits mingling amongst a bunch of shops and cafes. I loved it from the moment we parked the car and my senses were overloaded with colors, music and a whole lot of trinkets.

We stopped for a coffee at a cool spot called Southern Cross. I loved this hand made beaded screen, I think I will make one for my home. 

We grabbed some pizzas on the way back to our friends place and tried our best to help them set up their wifi. This is us piling into their car on a wireless router hunt. We were unsuccessful so we stocked up on goodies and watched one of their Disney movies from their hard-drive instead.

                      

Not sure who else is excited about the upcoming Jungle Book movie but Mike and I can't wait so we chose the original Jungle Book to get us prepped for its arrival in April 2016. 

                       

We also made it a Canterbury pants party and put on our 'uglies'. 

Day 210- We spent our last morning by taking advantage of our friends home. We worked out, showered and head back to cuba street to take in some more of their weird corky vibes. We hung out at Olive Cafe to enjoy delicious coffee, fresh food and a sweet street view. 

Our friends made plans to see us one last time before we headed on our way, so after they got off work, we met them at the coolest bar/resto called The Arborist. I would LOVE my house to look like this place and I thought of my brother in law and sister instantly because this is totally something they would create on a weekend. 

Get it... arborist. So cool. They also had a secret roof top bar that required us to go through a back entrance, up an elevator and up some stairs before we found it. 

We enjoyed a beer with our buds before they took us to a Friday food market. We needed to get some food in us before we headed to the docks to catch our ferry. 

We indulged in some tasty dumplings,

some Moroccan chicken wraps, 

and some french nutella and banana crepes. 

It was a great way to end our visit to Wellington and we would definitely agree that it is an incredibly   unique and wonderful city. Wellington has a diverse community of people and it has a very accepting and non judgemental feel. You could be anyone you want and feel totally confident that you wouldn't be treated differently because of it.

We loved visiting our friends and are happy that we went to Fiji or we would have never met them. They made us feel at home and refuelled us for the months of travel to come. Hopefully we can repay them with a ski weekend in banff one day. 

We were excited to take the ferry ride over to the South Island and the experience was much more glamorous than we expected. The ferry was like a cruise ship and had a lot of amenities so we snuggled in for the 4 hour journey with a coffee in hand and a whole season of 'The League' prepped for viewing.