The Nation's Capital

After the first night in our hostel, we were all feeling a little more like ourselves. I should probably take the time now to explain who our little group of travellers consisted of - there was myself, Mal, Lee, Kelsey, and Drea. Mal, Lee and Kelsey are all Canadians in Teacher's College at UC, and Drea is American, studying Environmental Science like myself. We turned out to be a pretty grand old troop, constantly laughing and singing and craving new adventures.

Exploring Wellington was a lot of fun. It's right on the water, so one can easily spend the morning cruising the eclectic Cuba Street, then relax on the beach for the afternoon. We checked out Te Papa, Wellington's free museum, which had a few neat things to offer (like displays of stuffed kiwi birds and an earthquake simulator that none of us found entertaining or humorous). In the museum we actually ran into some friends from Ilam who had also left Christchurch on Wednesday. It was nice to see a familiar face and to hear that most of the residence had left, as the uni was recommending.  

Cuba Street

Part of Wellington's extensive harbour

After a long day, we returned to our hostel to relax. While we were in the midst of a heated round of the Lord of the Rings board game, our door opened up and five Germans walked in. We were surprised, since it was late and we thought we'd have the room to ourselves that night. We learned that they had been staying in a hostel in Christchurch, but that the building had collapsed during the earthquake and they were left with nothing. The relief centre had given them toiletries and some clothes, but they had next to nothing otherwise.

Kelsey, Mal and Drea in our room at the hostel

As any other good group of Canadians would, we shared our wine with them and invited them out. The night was a bit random but we all had a great time, and made some new friends. If we're ever in Germany now, we've got a few places to stay.

A happy bunch of new friends