Day #11 (Wellington)

Today began with a hangover for most people on the trip. I went home at the ripe hour of 10:00pm the previous night. I needed the rest.
Luckily today wasn't a particularly busy day.
We got on the bus and travelled almost all day from Taupo to Wellington. Almost everyone slept.
On our second stop, our faithful guide, Sarah, realised that she had left one of our mates at the previous town. We had to turn around. Oops!
The weather on the North Island was perfect for traveling; wet and gray. All the Aussies on our tour were complaining about the cold (except for one guy who was relieved to not be stuck in either a monster flood or a heatwave).

We arrived in Wellington at about 3 and went to Victoria mountain. Wellington is famous for many things other than being the capital of NZ. It is also dubbed "Welliwood" after Peter Jackson brought Lord of the Rings here.
It wasn't a major highlight but it was cool.

We got to the hotel and Becky and I went for a walk to Les Mills Wellington. We arranged to get in for free and attend some classes tomorrow! Wooooooo!
After that, we shopped around for a bit.
The Wellington Rugby 7s championship was on today and we were at ground zero for the costumes and festivities. Everyone was dressed up. It was like Halloween times a million.
I bought a new cheap watch because my old one has a broken strap and after the incident with having one of my tour mates left behind, I became paranoid about always knowing the time.
My new watch is pink.

We got back to the hotel and had some quiet time before we were to go out for dinner.
At about 6:15, we started to get ready for dinner by putting on fluorescent costumes. Becky looked amazing. She had a pink wig and was wearing almost all neon yellow.
We got to the bar/restaurant and had some drinks. Dinner was good but after dinner, the Sh*t show began. Everyone began drinking and onto the tables we went. We danced the night away. NZ won the game tonight and there was cause for even more celebration. Shots were distributed and the party in the streets began. It was like being in the middle of a Superbowl party.
We left the bar and danced in the streets until about 11, and then went home.
I overcame my fear of crowds tonight and I'm feeling really good about myself for that. It took a lot for me to stand in a drumline parade in the middle of a strange city but I did it.
After we came home, we had another drink with our friend, Brandon, and went to sleep.

Tomorrow is a whole day in Wellington. Hopefully the weather will be better for our day of fun. :)