Arrived at my hotel at 7.30pm... the town is DEAD!!!
A quick change of clothes and out I went to explore. A short walk to the famous Wellington Cable Car up to the botanical gardens... it was pitch black! There was no one there and I only had a fleeting thought about walking into the pitch blackness of the gardens.
Very quickly I took the cable car back down and on the way asked a student from Victoria University where people would hang out on a Monday night and was told - no where!!! But she did suggest walking to Courtney Place - so off I went down Lambton Quay...... as I got closer to Courtney Place, I found that the streets had a few more people and there was actually music coming out of some of the resturants. I settled for a quaint little cafe on the corner of Blair St and Courtney Place since they were playing jazz. The pumpkin soup was beautiful... and the mussels divine. After having my fill, I walked all along the pier back to the hotel... it was a nice night... a bit nippy, but I had my scarf and gloves which kept me nice and warm. Back at the hotel, watched some TV and had a chat with Vinny before falling asleep. The room was really cold... didnt sleep very well.
Up bright and early the next day - a quick bite and coffee later, off to Wellington office. The view from the Wellington office is unbelievable... and the fact that it was a bright sunny day just made me want to get out there and explore. After my presentation, I took an hour to get out there to explore Wellington in the daytime. I wished I had a full day to explore at least. But an hour is all I got so I made the best of it.
Back at the office and the Wellington guys were great to take me out to lunch. I had a fantastic meal before I made my way to Wellington Airport to catch my flight back home.
5 hours later I was still in Wellington airport - our original 3.50pm departure time became 7pm because the plane that we were on had some 'technical difficulties' in the cockpit and we were told to change planes after sitting on the tarmac for 3 hours. Finally on the way to Sydney I made friends with Dayna, a Uni Student from Victoria U thinking of moving to Brisbane. I had missed my connecting flight to Melbourne, but managed to get the last flight home - which is more than I can say for my friend who was forced to stay in Sydney and had to take the first flight out to Brisbane the next day... poor girl! Got home after midnight - 4.5hours later than expected. Absolutely exhausting!!
