Today was a rather interesting day. It features me finally arriving in my dream city, Wellington. This is one of the cities in the entire world that I really wanna visit because of it's amazing location and periodically vintage buildings. But first, let me get through my morning.
Woke up to a hearty breakfast made by Alice (learnt her name from this note). Seriously I cannot thank her enough because this past 2 weeks I've been eating out so much that I miss home cooked food a lot. It was a delicious toasted bread with NZ beef patty inside!
Unfortunately she went to work so there goes my free ride to Palmerston North city centre. At 12pm, I left the house. What a really really nice place! From there, it was a treacherous half an hour walk with my heavy backpack and guitar towards The Square. This could have been me two days ago if Alice hadn't volunteered to pick me up.
Made it eventually and just slacked at the InterCity Bus stop for 3 hours. Surprisingly, the bus that came was an upgraded Gold class one. Sat on the first level and had a super large seat to myself. It was an awesome ride! This lady that sat beside me is a school teacher returning home for the summer holidays. She shared with me a lot about Wellington, much of it I already knew from my obsessive research.
Reached Wellington, finally. This city is so beautiful! The air is so fresh and the city just looks so much better than Auckland! Alighted at the Railway Station and promptly walked over to my hostel. Originally booked at Normads Capital near Wellington's centre, I quickly cancelled and booked with Hotel Waterloo instead, which was just opposite the Railway Station. Due to my heavy guitar and the airport express bus being also at the Railway Station, I didn't wanna make 2 unnecessary trips with my baggage.
This hostel is a truly old classic building. Even the lifts are retrofitted old school style. Vintage, in fact. I wouldn't hesitate to stay here again in the future if I visit Wellington, but definitely would choose a private bedroom. The shared bedroom is in comparable condition to Hamilton's. Truly a joke. Alas, I'm only here for one night so who cares? And since the Railway Station is just opposite, that's where I headed to right after I dropped my stuff on my bed.
This Railway Station is really classy! I've read online that this station is untouched since the 1800s. The exterior is just as it has always been. Wow! Unfortunately, today was the start of their maintenance week, which means no trains will be running for a week. Bummer, can't even get to see trains move in one of the most awesome train stations ever!
Headed back out onto the streets to hunt for dinner. Based on Google Reviews, I went to this super high class restaurant called Charley Noble. Ordered a NZD47 scotch fillet steak and NZD9 fries as the sides. This is the finest meat I've ever tasted in my life, and by no means did I say that because of the price.
Absolute juiciness from the meat, mixed with sweet peppercorn sauce and chewy fries, was one of the best things I have ever put in my mouth (food I mean). I wouldn't hesitate to spend this much again if meat were to be this kind of standard. Added another great review to them on Google!
Took a walk around the port and the city after that. Just like Auckland, after 8pm, the streets are literally dead. No cars, no humans, just wind blowing non-stop. Classic zombie town theme! I do enjoy walking down streets like these every once in a while. Feels like I'm the last man on earth and that is a pretty peaceful feeling!
Feels truly awesome having this much of peace and quietness in one of North Island's two biggest cities. I would gladly migrate to Wellington in the future if I have the money! Really love the dynamics of this city!
With my last night here in New Zealand's streets, I almost dropped a tear of happiness. I can never imagine if I hadn't been on this trip because my eyes would never have been opened to what this world can show me if I step out of my comfort zone. With that, my trip here has come to a finale, well, almost.
Click here for Day 14!
Click here for Day 14!
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