Saturday, August 09, 2003

Around Wellington

Up about 8:45, showered, breakfast, then drove to Island Bay (not an island, a suburb of Wellington) and did the Red Rocks Coastal Walk, a 2-hour return walk along the coastline to Sinclair Head, where a colony of fur seals was out lounging in the sun. They are quite accustomed to people, and you can get quite close to them. I was about 10 feet away snapping pictures of one fatty. You could also see the snow capped peaks of the south island.

Got back to the hostel about 1:00, then started walking downtown to the cable car that goes up to the top of a big hill in Wellington. Along the way, stopped at internet for a bit, then spent some time on Cuba Street, a pedestrian-only street with shops and shops and shops. One of the buskers was all decked out in his Scottish garb, kilt and all, playing his bagpipes for money. Got to the cable car, it's $3.60 for a return trip. AT the top is the cable car museum, Carter Observatory and the Botanic Garden. I headed for the Carter Observatory for my yearly lesson in astronomy (I know how to find south by the stars now), spent more than an hour there, then walked around the gardens for a little bit, but it was getting late in the day, so headed back down in the cable car, and back to the hostel. Of course, I passed Mrs. Higgins somewhere along the way today and bought more cookies.

Got back to the hostel, had supper, read for a while (finished book 2 of the trilogy), then decided to go to a movie. Left about 8:00, walked to Reading Cinemas, a 10-screen, brand new multiplex, and saw "Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle". Very corny, but I liked it.

BTW, "Jackass: The Movie" just came out in NZ. We saw that on pirate DVD in SE Asia months ago. When did it come out in Canada??? Can someone answer me? It seems like NZ has to wait to get movies (exception being Lord of the Rings).

After the movie, Courtenay Place (where the theatre is) was hopping, tons of people. I walked around for a bit, then back to the hostel and to bed.

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