A happy-go-lucky English rambler dude goes to New Zealand for a year. Here he interfaces with some of those he left behind and details his nefarious activities. Or summat.
Recently clicked on MP3s - 7th June 2005 The Lucksmiths - Warmer Corners
Jens Lekman - When i said i wanted to be your dog
The Trashcan Sinatras - Weightlifting
Teenage Fanclub - Man Made
Laura Veirs - Carbon Glacier
The Decemberists - Picaresque
The Eels - Blinking Lights
Tuesday, April 23, 2002
A big beehive shaped Hello to you all, from the capital of NZ, Wellington.
It's a bit of a relief to be here after a fairly fraught day preparing to set off for Welly. Both the Altern8or and the boot catch on the usually trusty Toyota Corona packed up. So i set off for the ferry in a slightly stressed state, with a bungy cord holding the boot shut and me praying that the battery wouldn't end up getting fried by the dodgy Altern8or. The 5 hour drive, starting 11pm and getting to the ferry for 4am would have been bad enough anyway, but with the added possibility that my car could croak, and the contents of my boot go flying across SH1, at any second, meant i arrived at Picton feeling less than relaxed. On the plus side though, the choons provided by my bitching new Sony Discman (That was the only colour they had left!), helped to keep me concious and sane on the loooong drive up.
My first impressions of Welly after driving off the Ferry at 8:30am were YIKES! Straight into a fast moving, rush hour, lane changing nightmare. Christchurch is based on a grid system, so you can never go too far wrong, or go too far without hitting an intersection, so things go at a fairly sedate pace. However driving round Welly, is more like the warfare of Lestar's one way system in the rush hour. But, after a few hours aimlessy cruising around, i managed to acquire a working Altern8or, get my boot to shut again, book into the Maple Lodge and have a few hours kip :o)
Wandering round Welly tonight has confirmed my earlier impressions. It's a far "cooler" place than Christchurch, the difference is bascially the same as between Lestar and London Village. There just seems to be loads more going on here, with groovy looking people, places, buildings and things round every corner. Even the the internet cafe, or "Fragatorium" i'm sat in is too trendy for it's own good, a darkened loft with bland, pumping trance for all the spotty gimps playing Operation Flashpoint (Sorry Dan & Hamish if you're reading :op ).
And, as it's so trendy, i've no doubt it's got an extremely trendy charge per hour too, so i'll bugger off for now. Am off to Tongariro (See below) tomorrow to meet up with Jo & Alex, and check out some passing Volcanoes :oD
