Wellington 3 - A City Tour

Fortunately Ciara had a nice long lunch-break on Monday so we decided to use the nice weather to have a coffee at the Chocolate Fish Cafe. It was a little further away from the city but had a nice setting and pretty views of the bay. Afterwards we went shopping at the local St. Vincent's, a second-hand store where I expanded my collection of Merino shirts for future hiking trips. On the way we also found a geocache...

Whilst the others had choir rehearsal in the evening I went to the Embassy cinema, a beautiful building, to see Dunkirk. What a tragic movie! With a creamy hot chocolate from Scopa I waited at a street corner for them to pick me up when suddenly Theo and Julien walked past! Some of my readers might remember Theo at least. We had been in SMP together and he had visited me a few times over the last 5 years. What a surprise to just meet them on the street! New Zealand is so small and at least in my age group every young musician seems to know ALL the others!

Tuesday's lunch I spent with Theo for we had a lot to tell each other and it was nice to simply walk along the waterfront and hear the latest news. When he had to leave I decided to visit the Te Papa museum again and see what has changed recently. The Gallipoli exhibition was particularly interesting. Weta Workshop had created giant statues and the visitors got to know the stories of many soldiers and officers. It was heartbreaking to hear of the events in all those details!

While listening to the last letter of William Malone to his wife before he died on the battlefield I even had to wipe some tears from my eyes. I came to stand next to a guy and somehow we started a conversation. Cameron and I continued to walk through the exhibition together and also had a quick look at the other exhibits but most of them had already been there in 2012. Afterwards he kindly helped me find the right bus stop so I was back just in time to go swimming with Ciara and Amber. While they went to the sauna I preferred the hot pool and afterwards we went to vegetarian restaurant for dinner.

An amazing conference hall in Te Papa, all made of carved wood!

Once again I had lunch with Ciara, this time at Midnight Espresso. There are so many nice cafes in Wellington! Afterwards I walked through Zealandia, a wildlife sanctuary protected by a high fence. Usually I like to listen to music while walking but here the birdsong was so various and beautiful that I enjoyed it for all of three hours before the park closed. Definitely worth a visit!

In the evening I met with Cameron again and we went for a drink but he was sick and I'd have to get up early to take the ferry in the morning. It was a short but nice conversation and I am glad that I have found so many new friends here!