Hey, everyone! Somehow while it didn’t feel like I did much this week… I actually did quite a lot. The highlight of my week was visiting the fur seals at Red Rocks/Pakiwhero, but there were plenty of other fun activities throughout the week.
Waimapihi Polhill Reserve
After completely exhausting myself on the job hunt front, I ended up closing my laptop and going on a hike. I felt I had done all I could and seemed to be in the running for two different jobs – one down in Queenstown, the other up in Auckland. I was really hoping for the Queenstown position.
The hike began about twenty minutes outside of the downtown area. It wound back and forth like a zig zag, reaching multiple lookouts throughout. The hike could go on for a very long time – it connected to a longer hike called the Turbine Walk (where you walk along literal wind turbines) but I didn’t make it that far.
The terrain on the walk was quite interesting. It went through a lot of different types of vegetation. In some areas, I was covered in shade, protected by trees on either side. Other times, I was in a meadow with no place to hide from the sun. Birds guided me along the way. A lot of the little black birds seemed to be building nests. I often saw them digging in the ground for materials. One of them even splayed out its wings as if hiding something.
This might be a little TMI but I paused for a pee break at one point… and my phone started ringing. I finished up, called the number back, and sure enough I GOT THE JOB down in Queenstown! Elated, my face was beaming with a massive grin for a while.
It was getting later in the day at this point, so I chose a lookout to sit at and meditate. The lookout was gorgeous, a view of Wellington city and the harbor beyond down below. Mountains everywhere.
The hike was great but it was certainly punctuated by the job offer. Yahoo!
Oriental Bay to Balaena Bay
On two separate occasions, I found myself wandering along the waterfront. I had heard Oriental Bay was supposed to be quite beautiful and was a popular spot for sunbathing. I called up my parents to chat as I walked along the path. I couldn’t believe how many people were out tanning and swimming. it must have been 65 Fahrenheit… I wouldn’t really call that suntanning weather! As my parents mentioned, it must have felt like a heatwave after the New Zealand winter.
I continued the walk for about an hour before turning back. I didn’t really have a goal in mind on that walk, only that I wanted to explore in that direction for a while. My end point was Balaena Bay, a spot where blue penguins come to breed and nest in the winter months. If you remember, they had blue penguins in Australia, too! Unfortunately for me, it is now spring here in the southern hemisphere. No penguins to be seen. I didn’t know this at the time and so on another evening, I walked back to the spot around dusk to see if I could see any penguins making their way back to their nests. Only after looking it up online did I discover the disappointing news. Alas! (There are also some very interesting penguins on certain islands in the south of New Zealand that I’d like to check out one day!)
Still, I enjoyed the walk both days. Walking back the second time, there was a person dressed up with all kinds of lights – almost like a Christmas tree – playing the saxophone. I had to stop and listen for a moment. Somebody tipped them and they said, “Thank you, but I don’t do it for the money… I do it for the smiles.” So cute!
Te Papa Museum
On another day, I finally made my way down to Te Papa, New Zealand’s national museum. I must admit, I’m not the biggest museum fan but I’m glad I went. It was free admission and had some really interesting exhibits. There was a war exhibit that had incredibly realistic, gigantic sculptures of war heroes who were involved in the Gallipoli campaign in World War I.
Another exhibit had photocopies of the treaties between New Zealand and the British colonizers. What’s interesting about the New Zealand colonization compared to Australia is that New Zealanders/Kiwis learned the English language very quickly in order to have more of a say in matters. Many tribes, or “iwi,” signed treaties to pledge allegiance to the Crown. They were able to negotiate terms to a certain extent and the result was that… well, they weren’t slaughtered like so many of the Aboriginals in Australia. The native kiwis continue to have a say in important matters. They are in government, protecting the lands, etc.
My favorite exhibit had to do with land and nature. The exhibit had heaps of taxidermy wildlife that’s in New Zealand. From penguins to kiwi to the extinct moa to albatross to fur seals, etc. There is a lot of wildlife here. But, yes, most of it is birds haha.
Marine life is quite plentiful here too. I think it was something like 20 of different species of whale travel through New Zealand waters. Love it! At some point, I’ll be making my way to Kaikoura to go on a sperm whale tour. I’ve never seen a sperm whale before, so that will be a treat down the road.
Another part of the land exhibit showcased a lot of geological information about the land. The volcanoes, the earthquakes, the lore behind them. How New Zealand was created by Maui… Has anyone seen Moana?! There was even a model home built that reenacts what an earthquake can sometimes feel like. I stepped in the model home and a video started playing. Maybe two minutes in, the model house started to shake. My heart leapt – it actually scared me for a moment! For good reason, too. Earthquakes are serious here. Christchurch was pretty much flattened back in 2011 due to a major earthquake.
I ended up going through most of the exhibits. Te Papa was certainly worth visiting! Very educational, fun, and FREE!
Red Rocks / Pakiwhero
I wasn’t sure if I was going to make the trek out to Red Rocks/Pakiwhero while I was in Wellington. (Fun fact: In Maori, when you have a “W” and “H” next to each other, it makes an “F” sound. So Pakiwhero would be pronounced something like Pah-key-fare-oh.) The reason for my hesitance was that I had heard the fur seals weren’t there year round and I also didn’t want to buy a bus pass when I would only be leaving the city soon. Ten dollars for a bus card, and that’s not with any fare put on it! Insanity. I ended up just paying in cash and avoiding the ten dollar fiasco altogether.
I changed my mind after a conversation with my dorm mate Julie. She told me another girl had gone to Red Rocks recently and saw some seals. Alright, I’ll try it!
The bus ride down was about forty minutes and had nice views of rolling hills and mountains along the way. It was a very overcast day.
I got off the bus and began my walk.
Immediately, I was glad I had made it down to the area. To my left was the ocean, to my right were beautiful hills, with hardly any homes around. It felt a lot more remote than Wellington Central.
The hike to Red Rocks from the bus stop was a little over an hour.
The walking was difficult at times – not because of steep inclines, but because I was walking on rocks. I nearly rolled my ankle at one point! I was surprised to see some people in wetsuits snorkeling. Later, I learned they were actually fishing for a particular seafood. It’s not clams… but I think it’s similar.
I kept my eyes peeled for whales and dolphins, but saw none.
After what, for some reason, felt like an eternity, I made it to the spot… or so I thought. The sign said Red Rocks and there were some people parked there in their 4WDs. Sigh. No seals. However, there were a few skinks basking on the rocks! Hearing the sound of my shuffling feet against the rocks, the skinks scurried into hiding.
I sat down on a rock, intending to meditate. Not a minute later, it started to drizzle. And then it started to rain. And it started to pour. Ah, shit.
A girl from one of the cars called out to me, “Hey, do you want a ride?” I wanted to look for seals, but there didn’t seem to be any around. And yet, the walk to the bus was going to take an hour. I wouldn’t want to do that in the rain so I eagerly accepted her offer. I felt a little defeated. While it was a lovely walk, I wanted to enjoy the area for a bit longer. Damn you, elements!
I wish I could remember the girl’s name… but it escapes me now. All I know is that she drove a pink jeep and that I was very thankful for the ride, even though it was an incredibly bumpy one. I almost hit the ceiling of the jeep a few times with some of the bumps we hit. That’s 4WD for you! I asked her if she ever sees the seals and she said, “Oh, yeah! You have to go past [where my jeep was parked].”
It continued to rain for a few more hours that day so I’m glad I was offered that ride.
While I only had one more day left in Wellington, I decided to go back to Red Rocks the next day. It was a beautiful, sunny day. Windy, though.
This time, the hike felt much faster. I was listening to music and was determined to get to the seal spot, even if they weren’t there. The funny thing is… when I did get there, I realized I had only been maybe two minutes away from the spot the day prior. Imagine that.
It didn’t take long for me to spot a seal. It was looking up to the sky, as they seem to do, and then scratching behind its shoulder with its nose/mouth. I watched it for some time and it never seemed to fully relax.
There was also a baby seal! I don’t think I’ve ever seen a baby seal before. That guy… was DEFINITELY relaxed. Its mother was nearby, keeping an eye on it. There was also a fourth seal, further out, in a spot that wasn’t easily visible.
I talked to some locals who told me during the winter months, the place is teeming with seals. I believe it! I’ve been to some places where sea lions congregate in a big way. I am not sure I’ve ever seen fur seals so up close, though. I’ve definitely seen sea lions at close range but not seals. The difference? Fur seals have ears, sea lions don’t.
Seeing the fur seals made my day but I’m also glad I returned to Red Rocks for a different reason. The first day was so gloomy, I couldn’t see it but this time I could see the South Island visible far off in the distance. What a treat! Especially since it was a foreshadowing of where I’d be going the following day. Yahoo!
I spent the rest of the day at the hostel. I packed up my things and read Legally Blonde, which I’ve since finished. I haven’t read a book that fast in some time. It took only two evenings!
The next morning (today) I woke up early for my flight to Queenstown. In some ways, it felt like a shame to be leaving Wellington so soon. Wellington is certainly a city for weirdos. Everyone has their own style and the place has a very alternative vibe to it… which I love. However, having now arrived in Queenstown, I think I will be loving it here, too.
Miscellaneous
At one of my Wellington hostels, I was reading a book in the common area and a dude asked me if I’ve ever been told I look like Jeffrey Dahmer. This is now the fourth time in a year that I’ve been told I look like Jeffrey Dahmer hahaha. I inquired, did he mean the ACTUAL Jeffrey Dahmer, or the actor (Evan Peters) who played him in the Netflix show? The Netflix show, he said. I’ll take it. “It’s the glasses,” he said, although people said that back in Australia too when I wore different glasses. Any time I saw that dude around the hostel from then on, he called me Dahmer.
On another day, I was walking around the city and three people ran out of a store and past me. One of them had something in their arms. I didn’t realize until I saw one of the store employees run out with a phone to their ear that the three people were literally shoplifting. Thieves! I don’t think I’ve ever seen that before.
I also have forgotten to mention that here in New Zealand they have double decker busses! How cool is that?
I mentioned earlier that I had two job offers, one of them in Auckland, one in Queenstown. I had been corresponding with the Auckland peeps for quite some time so it was tough to be relaying the bad news to them. The response I got was so professional. He told me while he would have loved to have me on the team, “good candidates get good offers.” What a legend.
The last thing I wanted to mention was a friend I made at the hostel, Julie. From Ireland, she introduced herself as soon as I walked into the room. We ended up talking a lot over the next few days I was at the hostel. I am really glad we met because we had some damn good conversation. She’ll be staying in Wellington for some time, but hopefully we can meet up again, somewhere in the world.
Art of the Week
I’ve been wanting to draw this one for a week or so now. Australia’s most famous bird is the emu and in New Zealand, it’s the kiwi. They are not completely dissimilar… but they still are very different birds. I enjoyed doing this piece!
Reflections
Geez. What to reflect on? I haven’t even been in New Zealand three weeks yet and already I’m in my third city. Who would have thought? I think this one will stick, though. I am committed to staying at this job for a while and Queenstown has the most gorgeous scenery. It is a small town but there are a lot of adventure activities to do on my days off. If i want, on weekends I could go bungee jumping or skydiving or go on a tour to Milford Sound or go hiking or go on a boat or XYZ. There is no shortage of activities in and around Queenstown. I think it will be good for me to settle here for a while. It will also be interesting for me to live in a place with so few people. I think it will offer a lot of quiet space for me to write and draw in my free time.
I am now checked into my staff accommodation and I start work on Tuesday. I am nervous but I think it will be fine. My boss seems really nice and knows I’m new to all this. I just hope the stress level isn’t too extreme! I’ve had too many stressful jobs in my life haha.
Tomorrow, I go in to work briefly to get my uniform fitted and to meet my boss. Then, I’ll go and explore around town some more. I haven’t had much of an opportunity today. Too many errands to do.
Until next time! Sending you all my love. xx
