Right place, wrong time! or maybe it is the right time...

So like I said I'm back in Wellington. I liked this city the first time around but it was New Year time so everything was a bit hectic here. Stores were running erratic trading hours or not at all, the streets were crowded, the pubs were even more packed and it was tough to find a bunk at a hostel. On top of that the International Unicycle Conference (UniCon) was on here, so the streets were bustling with one-wheel-masters battling the wind.
Well, the holidays are over so I planned a couple days back here in the capitol city before trekking into the north island...only I didn't realize this is Sevens weekend! Which is, I have come to learn, the rugby world series! Haha, so the bagel joint I'm sitting in is out of bagels b/c of all the people ordering party platters for tonight, last night people were out and rowdy until long past the time I fell asleep and it looks to be even bigger tonight.
It is common practice to wear costumes for Sevens and so far I've seen an american football team (confused much?), a group of belly dancers and genies complete with large foam lamps round their waists, a couple Egyptian pharaohs at the grocery store this morning, and a hoard of Palestinians in the lobby of the hostel yesterday afternoon. The costume shops didn't even blink about Halloween while I was in Auckland, but in Wellington they're running ads and promotions like mad for Sevens.
So now I'm really liking Wellington. It seems that when the city isn't being blown sideways by the wind off the Cook Strait, they've got loads of stuff going on all the time. In a week's time marks the beginning of the Wellington Fringe festival which looks to be quite interesting. I could wish I were going to be here for that. But there are things to see and places to be so happily I push on!
Tomorrow morning I'll catch a ride on the Overlander service, which is one of the few passenger trains left in NZ. (FYI- The Americans who bought the NZ railway system are responsible for stripping out all the passenger services excepting the tourist routes) This one runs daily from Wellington to Auckland and back again. I'm only going as far as National Park village which is not much more than a pit stop in the countryside. It is a tiny wee town near Tongariro National Park, NZs first national park and the fourth worldwide. The park has 2 other mountains along with Tongariro, these being Ngauruhoe and Ruapehu. You'll probably know Tongariro better as Modor, though. lol

A little bit of deja vu

I'm back in Wellington now after about a month on the south island. I'm in the same hostel I was in just before I left Wellington and last night I was in the same hostel I stayed at in Picton when I had first arrived on the south island. Since then I've put in hours and hour on buses, been to Picton, Nelson, Fox Glacier, Queenstown, Stuart Island, Invercargill, Dunedin, Otago Peninsula, Banks Peninsula and Christchurch. I've been to the north the south the east and the west of the south island; saw the Tasman sea, the Pacific Ocean (on the wrong shore), Foveaux Strait and Cook Strait. Saw mountains, beaches, rain forests, plains and glaciers...and I'm not done yet folks.
I'm planning to spend the rest of my time in the north island. What I've been told is that it is a little less wild and far more populated. We'll see what it actually is like...
I haven't got a really clear plan yet, so I'm going to spend a bit of time pricing out places and transportation before i decide were I'm going and what I'm doing there. I'll try to keep you all posted when I figure it out.