happy boxing day!

Oceania → Australasia → New Zealand → Hawke’s Bay → Hastings 

i’ve been out of updates, but right now i’m not in the capital city anymore. i’m here in hastings, a small city in hawke’s bay some ~300 km north of wellington.

so i left the german group in wellington (benny, nico, alex, and felix) as they were heading to south islands. new zealand is actually divided into two major islands, called north island in the northern part and south island, well in the southern part (how creative is that?)..plus a couple more smaller islands around. my first point of entry, wellington, is actually in the southernmost part of the north island, and i’m basically making my way up.

wellington’s been my place for 6 days, and i find the city very compact. walking around lambton, willis, to courtenay and cuba street is very easy. i didn’t have a problem finding my way to the main bus and train station, or to the libraries (but i haven’t been inside) or museums. i find it very safe as well walking alone is no major risk, and people are helpful if you ask for directions.

apart from te papa, there’s another museum in wellington worth mentioning. the museum of wellington city and the sea at the entrance of queens wharf. like the te papa, entrance is free, but unlike it, this museum looks more traditional and old-style being housed in a victorian store. wellington’s maritime history is displayed early from native maori to european settlement. a mini theater is attributed to the wahine disaster of 1968, where an inter-island ferry sank along with 51 lives. the disaster, with more than 700 passengers onboard the ferry, happened in one of new zealand’s most violent storm. in another theater, there’s an impressive holographic projection on maori legends about the creation of wellington harbour.

with some friends from the hostel (the germans), we hiked for the botanical garden, all the way up the steep road, and then finally reaching the top where the cable car ends. then, walked the way down and to a cinema for rock and rolla.

when i mentioned that wellington’s nightlife is about as expensive as greenbelt. i think i made a mistake, or my currency conversion is not working properly, it’s probably twice as much. for example, a glass of tap beer is about $8, or 240 pesos.

i forgot to mention that i’ve seen ben hana. that famous, destitute-looking maori. he is so renowmed and respected that even the government can’t take him away!

and the silly bucket fountain, an iconic display installed in 1969 and still splashing unsuspected passersby. also, the capital city is home to parliament buildings, the seat of new zealand’s government. the most distinct infrastructure is probably the beehive (executive wing) designed by a british architect, and took as much as 13 years to finish.

going north to hastings, is taking a bus of up to 5 hours with a stopover in palmerston north, and passing by dannevirke. the view along the way is awesome! for the first time in nz, i’ve seen wild and live sheeps! and cows! the green hilly terrain backdrop added to the dramatic sight, but i guess the picture i have of it didn’t make any justice. arriving at hastings, all tired and starving, i followed the direction to the first hostel in sight, the rotten apple hostel (i remember reading this from LP..), where a night is $24. hastings is more of a quiet laidback (well, i found the whole nz laidback!) city compared to its bigger touristy brother napier, a bit up north. hastings is also the dwelling place of a lot of fruitpickers and orchard workers. dec 25, and today, 26 is a holiday. the 26th being boxing day. no, not that sport where pacquiao excels, it’s boxing, as in boxing or wrapping something up. the history about it? i still have to find out..

so, happy boxing day!!

more pics of welly