Day 221 - Wellington

Hurrah! I've finally made it to Wellington!

Arrived here yesterday at about 4 and spent a fraustrating hour driving round the centre of town, caught in the illogical and frankly stupid one-way system. I finally managed to find Webb St backpackers, squeezed Rodders into a vacant parking spot (power steering, how I miss thee) and checked in. The backpackers is a quiet one, not listed in any of the guidebooks, but seems nice enough - Carla and Briany, friends from Auckland, are staying there, along with assorted young males (of the non-attractive sort sadly) drawn in by the lure of free breakfast/movies every night/in-house bar. It was hard paying for a dorm room bed, and then having to share said dorm room with people (who stumble in drunken in the middle of the night), after so long having my own free room/van. But it is nice to be around backpackers again.

Today I've been busybusy. Primarily I've circulated several hostels, pinning up my beautiful flyer inducing people to buy my van (you should have seen the YHA hostel - talk about posh!). In the process of getting from hostel a to hostel b, I've had a good explore of the town, admired the architecture and so on. I like this place - it has a really good vibe and is negotiable by foot, which is a good thing for those of us with an aversion to poorly designed one-way systems.

Later on I'm going to visit the famous and, most importantly, free Te Papa - Museum of New Zealand. It has lots of info about Maori culture, NZ's history - and also boasts of a virtual bungy jump (cheaper and less uncomfortable than the real thing).

Tomorrow I'm going to an arty cinema to watch an arty film and, hopefully, selling my van (I can but hope).

Day 218 - Paraparaumu

I have spent a lot of time sorting out the centres website this weekend (blimey - my internet skills seem to come in handy everywhere!) The website is now finished: http://homepages.paradise.net.nz/lotusyog/ - pretty smart eh? It's wierd being back in front of the screen for long periods of time, but it gets me a break from hacking away at weeds. It's not all roses though - Ananda is suffering from a lack of attention so feels the need to pop in every 10 minutes to shake my chair, wave some toy in front of my face or scream falsetto. An only child through & through (he's not so bad really).

All in all I've settled in well and I'm enjoying myself - Cathryn likes to have someone to chat to about every day stuff, Eric is thoroughly relieved that he's finally found someone to sort out his website (last update:2002) and do some gardening and Ananda is just happy to have someone to give him piggybacks/listen to his rambling monologues and generally give him lots of attention. The food here is meat-free, egg-free, dairy-free, wheat-free and generally a bit fun-free - but Catheryn can make a mean bean salad/patty/bake so it's not too bad. The classes are good too - I've settled in to the relaxed style and am quite enjoying the lack of clenched muscles and pain. The hoards of 50-something ladies that clog up the drive with their cars and troop into the centre chatting away are all very friendly, though I often feel that I repeat the same conversation over and over.

I think I will leave on Tues or Weds - I have got a new rego for Rodney , but I really want to flog him soon, preferably before I need to get the WOF done. Then it'll just be me and my backpack again - hurrah!