Wellington

Arrived in Wellington last night about 6 and was harassed into a shuttle by a guy in a suit with a mullet down to his waist. It, along with his massive mustache, were flaxen blond. His shuttle, a monstrosity in gold that almost matched his hair, would have been passably sane had it been driven by anyone else. Inside was decorated with cheap plastic x-mas decorations of flying reindeer in the windows and the ceiling was lined with a string of LED light balls, shifting color every few seconds. Not to be out done though at the front of the van was a similarly shifting color cube shaped alarm clock rubber banded to the rear view mirror and an 18 inch tall, glass, illuminated figurine of the Eiffel Tower sitting on the floor. Now I remember a time when I thought of Le Tour Eiffel as a singularly unique symbol of the chicest city in the world. Of course having been there and climbed it myself, I remember it fondly now as the eyesore of an otherwise classy and thoroughly understated city. Appropriate symbolism in this particular shuttle. Last night I walked down past Cuba st and down a bit further in search of dinner. I found little was open except 2 Subway sandwich joints, 3 McDonald's and 2 Burger King's. There were a few asian restaurants open, but was not in the mood to sit in a dimly lit dining room as the only patron alone with my meal and the full attention of the wait staff. Been there, done that, found it wholly unpleasant. So I ended up in the mall of all places. Easy to blend in and look inconspicuous while I shamefacedly devour my McChicken meal replete with a coke and fries. I thought to maybe see the new Sherlock Holmes flick with Robert Downey Jr. but when it was my turn at the front of the queue, the high school student behind the register informed me that the only seats remaining were in the front row. (In case you’ve never seen this, some movie theaters assign seats, a practice I first encountered in Belgium. I think it is nice, unless, of course that is, I’m the last in line buying a ticket.) So I scraped the plan and hoofed it back to the hostel. I could have inquired about the next showing an hour later, but as it was I was already having trepidations about walking around in a strange city on my own at the hour when an 8:30 showing ends, let alone an hour later.

This hostel, by the way, is worth telling about. I arrived about 7:30 pm and checked in where I was promptly informed by the British woman behind the desk, only a few years older than myself, that I was NOT to use her kitchen after 10pm when she would be cleaning. She turns the gas off to the cooker promptly at 10 so I had better be out of her way. After she finishes cleaning I am welcome to use the microwave and hot water geyser for any late night needs I might have. Also, free internet access is available 30 minutes a day if I sign up in the morning for a time slot. Or I can purchase wireless access for $20 a day or $10 for 6 hours, but the internet is shut off at 9pm anyway. It is a clean hostel, but one that doesn’t encourage it’s visitors to hang out during the day. I woke up early, ate a quick breakfast showered and left. I didn’t realize it was only 9am until I was half of the way down the hill. I think that is earliest I have ever left a hostel of my own volition while on holiday. So I suppose the relative unfriendliness of the place is for the better.
So now I am sitting at the top of the botanical gardens inside the herb garden having finally found the time and inclination to write for the first time in months. Thank you, brusque British lady.

I am staying in the Rosemere hostel tonight again and then I’m moving down the hill to the Trinity Hotel for New Year’s Eve and Day. It will be a welcome holiday from my holiday to not share my room with 5 strangers and to not shower in my shoes. I say the end of this year will bring with it a lot of thoughts about what I’ve done in the past year. Not that any one thing was singularly spectacular, but all of it together makes for quite an exciting year. I think it would take me a full week to recount only the most interesting points.

Now the afternoon is is getting old. I think I will make my way down from the botanical gardens soon in search of lunch.