Down to Wellington

All it takes is Michael Scott to score Carey and me a ride down to Wellington. We were hanging out in our Hostel in Auckland and started a conversation with a nice guy named Walter from Holland. It turns out that we liked the same shows and a firewire cable was quickly brought out to update our respective tv show stashes. A few episodes of The Office later and we split up.
The next day as Carey and I were at the the travel counter to purchase our bus tickets to Wellington Walter chimed up that he had a rental car and no plans. Our time with our Daihatsu Sirion was just beginning.
When the rental agency tells you that there is no way that three people and luggage will fit into a miniscule Japanese subcompact they are just trying to upsell you. Here is what we learned about the Daihatsu Sirion:
Pros: Great offroad. Interestingly enough New Zealand rental agencies do not prohibit non sealed roads like the do in Australia. They just prohibit you driving on 4 specific roads in the whole country.
Cons: Not big enough for Carey to sleep in before an 18K hike. O well...

It was a relaxing two day drive down to Wellington with our stopover to do the hike that I mentioned in the previous post. It also gave us a good chance to see New Zealand. To my utter delight this is one of those countries that likes giant things on the side of the road. Slideshow on the right banner hint hint... I don't know what makes people decide that what their town really needs is a giant shoe, dog, duck, etc... but it certainly keeps the postcard industry healthy.

We arrived in Wellington to the maddening sight of our cruise ship pulling out of the harbor. Carey's and my stomachs were clamoring for the obscene quantities of mediocre food that a week before we had been enjoying on that very boat. Had we arrived into town an hour earlier we could've tried to board with our ship's cards that we still had. That would have been much more entertaining once we realized that we had overlooked certain details such as where to sleep since we no longer had a cabin and that we would be stuck on the boat for two days ending in Christchurch while all of our stuff was still in Wellington with Walter. Along the lines of arriving in town too late we also missed the chance to go a Thanksgiving dinner that we had been invited to. We celebrated the pilgrims with bowls of noodles in a Malaysian restaurant.

The next day we went to Jewish services and met a young kiwi named Adrian. We met up with him the next day for drinks which led into a night that convinced us that Wellington is the best party city in New Zealand. This is a great town on a Saturday night that certainly knows how to do a house party.

Walter and I are going to get back in the car tomorrow and explore the north island some more while Carey stays in Wellington to begin work. I have a very interesting work offer that will involve me living on a beach cottage for a couple of months. Internet is going to be spotty for a few days. If the job is real I will be hopping off near Auckland to go pursue that, otherwise it is a few more weeks of driving around.