The morning I rolled into Wellington from Taupo.
Our first stop was at the top of Mount Victoria for a view of the city.
This is Rachel. Rachel and her flat was my very first couchsurfing experience. At first I was nervous because I was unsure of what to expect but it was my perfect initiation into couchsurfing! If you don’t know what couchsurfing is check it out here. So far I’ve surfed with 5 hosts and they’ve all been pretty rad.
From L-R that’s Rachel, Charlie, ALEK! (said just like that. ALEK! had a strong personality to say the least. strong personality = amusing bossy Macedonian), and Hollie. That couch you see in the foreground was my bed for a few days. These guys had an enviable living arrangement whereby in addition to their weekly rent they contributed a fixed amount to the communal pot which went towards bills and groceries. Flatmates took turns buying groceries and cooking whenever they’d feel the urge. The ones who didn’t cook would do the clean up. House rules were fairly loose from what I saw as everyone seemed pretty self regulating. Having communal groceries meant that food was available to everyone equally thus eliminating the danger of quibbling over whose was who’s. Of course in order to become a resident of the Ghunzee street apartment, one also had to be subjected to a rigorous interview process in which the whole group was involved. Funnily enough, the apartment had somewhat of a strict vegetarian policy even though the majority of the housemates were not. Apparently it was a carryover from the original tenants, Charlie having the tenure of longest resident there.
L-R: Hollie, John, and Charlie. That night we all went out for a walk and stopped for gelato. The original plan was to go check out one of their friend’s performance at some bar down the street. This was spearheaded by ALEK! But 10 mins into our walk, plans changed. As soon as we arrived ALEK! ran into another friend out front who convinced him that we should go check out the giant shadow box instead. Of course he convinced us all to go but he himself had to return movies first and so would meet us at the shadow box later. Long story short, we went, we saw, and he disappeared. Keep in mind ALEK! did all the persuading and basically was the mastermind behind our excursion. Funny guy that ALEK! The flatmates themselves were a lovely bunch. Not only did they live together but they all could and DID oftentimes go out together as friends. Oh yea. The official flatnames were Rachel, John, Charlie, Hollie and Joel. ALEK! is an honorary roommate who came with Charlie. You’ll meet Joel later.
Cuba street. I totally lucked out in location. I couldn’t have asked for a better place! Upon my arrival Rachel invited me to check out a happy hour theatre production showing around the corner at a bar/venue called Mighty Mighty. What a great introduction to the city’s cultural nightlife!
I always wondered how and where they sold stuff like spraypaint in other cities overseas. This was in a skate shop in the neighborhood.
The building to the left is the National Gallery, a free art museum featuring all new zealand artists.
Behind the gallery was a backview of the library –one of the first places I ended up when I arrived in Wellington. I had thought that if any place would have free internet, it’d definitely be the library. Boy was I wrong! Nothing is free in New Zealand. Not even ketchup packets or should I say tomato sauce packets.
If you stroll further along past the National Gallery towards the waterfront you run into this walkway and pier with integrated wood and iron sculptures. Wellington has the highest concentration of publicly funded art spaces in all of New Zealand. Everywhere you go there are large scale sculptures and installations justifying the city’s reputation as a city with soul. The first time I was in New Zealand I was told how much I would like Wellington but sadly was never able to check it out til now. 
Their version of a parking meter.
Right before I snapped this shot there was a guy who walked past this and had to stop to rub the dogs head like it was an actual dog. It was kinda cute actually.
Wellington has a cable car that takes you up to the top of the hill with the botanical gardens and cable car museum and then directly back down. It only has that one route. People like to make comparisons to SF because of it but I don’t think they should. Cable cars aren’t that cool and neither is SF.
Why is it museums love to have mannequins with bad hair pieces doing strange things?
The top of the hill. I mentioned that earlier there’s only cable car and one route that takes people from the top of the hill down to the bottom but I also forgot to add that many of the old homes that sit on steep hills have their own private pulley and elevator systems. Of course they have stairs too but I wonder, why doesn’t SF have something like that?! 
The walk down from the top of the hill down to the city center is only about 30-45 minutes.
Wellington had lots of ferns and moss. I would say a good portion of NZ could qualify as temperate rainforest.
I loved this apartment building because it makes me think of a lifesized dollhouse where even though each unit’s floorplan may be almost identical but are vastly different depending on the dweller. It makes me want to make up stories about the people that live there.
On the way back I passed by the oldest cemetary in the city. It was where some of the first colonists were buried.
This is the parliament building which is nicknamed “the beehive.” 
I think this is Lambton quay. Wasn’t very far from the flat. As I said earlier, I couldn’t have asked to have been situated in a better place! I was right around the corner from the alternative area yet still super close to the city center. 
I didn’t know that the Hara Krishna’s were still a cult! These days they tend to look a little more normal from the waist up. Check out the guy with baseball cap!
There was a crew of these devil looking guys and girls wandering the street that day. They looked like they were on a scavenger hunt.
Saturday night we roamed the city looking for a place to hang out and went to at least 5 bars before settling on this café with a live jazz trio. We went everywhere but for some reason that night the city was dead. I hear it happens sometimes.
The beetch my last day.
So you know how sometimes you’ll see people playing volleyball, hackysack or even soccer at the beach? Well these guys on the left were playing cricket, which coincidentally there happened to be an international game going on that day as well. While we decided on the beach, Hollie and my english traveler friend I had met 2 towns ago attended that instead. Don’t bother asking me anything about the game. All I know is, it sounded B-O-R-I-N-G. It’s suppose it’s like our baseball, you go as an excuse to drink.
Rachel and Joel. Joel is a frenchy from Christchurch, a graphic designer AND the newest member of the household. He was a delight too!
Rachel was a stupendous host. She actually offered to drive me to the ferry terminal at the ungodly hour of 7am even after I protested. I don’t think I’ve said enough about Rachel but I will add that she was a fireball of energy. In a good way! Bye Wellington. It was a great 4 days!
