Catching Up

July 14

Classes have officially started, but I’m having trouble actually making myself realize that I’ll have to buckle down and do work soon. I don’t want to! I just want to keep exploring this city!

Saturday was overall a shitty day – rainy, windy and chilly. I played mah jong on my laptop for hours, finally venturing out around 3 p.m. to head up to the library on campus. There I uploaded pictures on Facebook, and met up with Andrea.

Sunday, however, dawned bright and beautiful, if a bit chilly. Wellington weather really amazes me – it’s even more moody and volatile than Ohio’s!

On Sunday afternoon, Jamie, Andrea and I ventured out to the Karori Wildlife Sanctuary. We spent two hours hiking the trails and taking in the gorgeous scenery. We did not, however, really see much wildlife… just a few birds here and there (and no kiwis, either!). But I suppose just being there was enough. It would be a great place to return to for some serious tramping.

After the Sanctuary, we spent some time trying to find our way home. We planned to take a bus up to the top of Mt. Vic at sunset, but soon found out the particular bus we needed does not run on Sundays. In fact, a lot of bus lines apparently don’t run on weekends at all. So we wandered aimlessly for a while, made our feet really sore, and eventually made our way back to Courtenay Place much later than we’d planned. We ate dinner at Sweet Mother's Kitchen, a New Orleans-style restaurant, and then parted ways for the night.

When I got back to my flat, I met Danielle, my third kiwi flatmate. She seems friendly, if perhaps a bit quiet. The other two are Tina (very bubbly and perhaps a bit wild) and James (a karate-practicing music major who doesn't seem to ever be around much).

Monday dawned and brought with it classes. History of Journalism seems alright, and I think Travel Writing will be really fun. After class, Jamie, Andrea and I moseyed down to Courtenay Place for dinner, and then we stopped at New World for some groceries. That place seems to be packed at all hours of the day. But, then again, it is the main large chain grocery in the city, so I suppose it’s to be expected.

I finally got my wireless working in my flat that night, which was an especially joyous occasion.