Journal #20: Wellington
3/21/16
Cover Photo: “One with the Sunrise”
Sheep Spotted: 0

Last day in Wellington! I’m also officially a third of the way through the trip- it’s crazy to me that I’ve already been in New Zealand a full 3 weeks.

In that time, I’ve been to Queenstown, Glenorchy, Wanaka, the Routeburn Track, Mt Cook, Lake Tekapo, Christchurch, Akaroa, Mt Sunday, and now Wellington.

Luckily the trip goes on- tomorrow I’m hopping on a bus to Rotorua- it’s about a 7-hour bus ride, so I may not blog tomorrow. In the meantime, I’d thought I’d discuss my observations of New Zealand during this period of time:

1) “No Worries Mate”- This is the prevailing attitude amongst the Kiwis. They are extremely laid back, friendly people.

2) Accent: The Kiwi accent is very easy to understand; however, like the Brits, Kiwis have a habit of mumbling when speaking. I’ve now had two different tour guides, who despite speaking through a bullhorn style PA system with the volume turned all the way up, were very difficult to hear.

3) Mini-America: The strangest thing about being here is that it looks and feels like the United States. Especially Wellington, which is like a mini-version of San Francisco with cafes, farmers markets, street festivals, craft beers pubs, and even cable cars lining its streets. The streets are wide, the buildings new and modern, and the people dress like Americans. I think my expectation was that it would feel like a British or European country, but after being here for 3 weeks, I can confidently say it is not European in the least.

4) Coffee and Beer: These two work in inverse. Kiwis like their coffee strong (usually the only thing you can order is Espresso drinks) and their Beer weak (I was given a “high alcohol beer” at 6.5%).

5) Driving: Driving for the most part is extremely easy- the only thing to keep in mind if you rent a car here is that they measure ‘Petrol’ (Gas) in Liters, so when you see the price at the gas Station as $1.8 NZD- that’s per liter, not gallon. A liter is roughly a quarter of a gallon, so in US dollars you are looking at roughly $5/Gallon. There are also not that many gas stations- so definitely fill up before you leave major cities.

6) Other Transportation: New Zealand has an extremely modern infrastructure, so getting around is very easy. Flying is very easy (I’ve discussed how awesome Air New Zealand is on other posts, but there’s also Jet Star if you are looking for cheaper fares), Buses/Ubers/Taxis are abundant, and trains connect the larger cities.

7) Animals: Despite hiking all over the place, I have yet to see anything other than livestock, birds, and lizards in New Zealand. One quirky thing you will see though is large deer farms- evidently Kiwis really love their venison. Oh- and yes, there’s sheep everywhere.

8) Food: You can pretty much find every type of food here. The main local New Zealand dish is Fish and Chips (you can pretty much find this at every restaurant), but outside of that there’s very few traditional local dishes (unless you count all the various lamb preparations).

As I mentioned I am off to Rotorua tomorrow, which is roughly in the center of the North Island. I get in late and I am going to Tongariro (‘Mordor’ from the Lord of the Rings) the following day- so if I miss the blog tomorrow, I will be back with an epic one the following day!

Cheers,

Morgan