Windy Wellie: gateway to the north island

Arrived on the north island yesterday afternoon -- just a short 25 minute flight from Nelson to Wellington (spectacular views from the plane looking out over the mountains and Marlborough region). Checked into my hotel which is in great location by the harbour -- perfect for walking out and exploring. Great organic store down the street in order to stock the fridge in my room's kitchen. I even have a Fisher & Paykel dishdrawer just like at home. The hotel is called 'At Home Wellington City' and it is just a small hotel located on the fourth floor of a commercial building so it is like a little studio apartment The only downside I can see is that there aren't likely any cats on the fourth floor of a commercial building. I have a nice little balcony looking out to the harbour...



At night one can lie in bed with a glass of savvie (say, the delicious award-winning Tohu Sauvignon Blanc from the Marlborough region (Val G. this is an Excellent Savvie Alert!!!) and look out at the harbour lights...


After I checked in and settled in a bit I went out for a bit of walk to orient myself and look around a bit. You can't take a map out in this town without someone calling out "Where you trying to go there then?" Then when you tell them you are just looking to see where you are, they ask how long you are visiting and then proceed to tell you all about the city. Just fabulous people in this country and they all have such a pride and love for the place they live. When you tell them how much you are enjoying it, they all pretty much say "Yeah, it's pretty special isn't it?"

I ended up at a restaurant on Cuba Street called Roxy Cafe where I pigged out. Had the ricotta and walnut filo parcel for my starter, then the daily fish special -- I forget what the fish was called -- with hollandaise sauce and mashed potato and homemade vanilla ice cream for dessert. The savvie I chose to accompany this meal was a Gladstone savvie from the Wairarapa region which is about an hour north of Wellingtonl.

After dinner I walked around a bit more (scouting out a potential venue for tonight's culinary explorations) and then went back to my hotel room to relax. I was happy to see that an episode of the British show "Doc Martin" was on. I started watching this show in Christchurch and Dunedin and nice to get back to the quirky characters after two weeks of no television at yoga. Then I was even more pleasantly surprised to find that my DVD of the British show "The Thick of It" (which I bought from Amazon UK and am not able to play on my DVD player or computer at home due to the PAL format) works in the DVD player in my room. So I watched two episodes of that sipping on a glass of savvie. Hilarious. (Thanks, Amy B., for the recommendation so long ago -- I persevered and travelled to the other side of the world just so I could finally watch it and discuss it with you. I love the character of Malcolm -- "Alright, here's what we are going to do!" will be my new catchphrase upon my return to the office.) It will be a treat to watch a couple more episodes tonight.

Well, gentle readers, I best get out there exploring this fair city. Sun is out although it is quite windy. The wind was amazing last night coming off the harbour -- I lay in bed listening to it, especially since it blew over all my patio furniture at on point! Luckily it has calmed down a bit for the daytime but this would be a tough town to have a hairstyle in. Luckily I don't.