Holy Moly Adventures!: Windy Wellington!

Farewell Taupo - we'll miss you!

Our last day in Taupo, we went on an adventure to see if we could swim to these rock carvings that were made into the face of a cliff near Taupo. We went equipped with wine and sandwiches, but before indulging, we jumped into the frigid lake and swam/rafted around the rocky points to get to the carvings. To avoid spending too much time in the cold water, we took turns paddling in the raft and traversing the rock walls along the water. As we turned the corner, we were bombarded with strong head winds and gave up on our quest, returning to our picnic of wine and steak sandwiches.

Maori rock carvings that we never actually saw...

On our last night with Farideh and Andrew, we made delicious pizzas and played Apples to Apples - an ode to American board games.

Yummy home-made pizzas!

Welcome to Windy Wellington:

The next day, we headed down to Wellington and made it there in about 5 hours. When we arrived, we went to my friend Peter’s house, a kiwi that Emma and I had met while traveling in Thailand. He and his girflriend, Sam, welcomed us into their home for the weekend. We went straight out to a night on the town starting at a Turkish BYO, then onto a Welsh bar for live music (previously public toilets on the island of a busy road), and then onto a pool hall where their friends were DJing. There, we danced until the early hours, denied a nightcap at a place called “Betty’s” (Nolan and I are were already way past our bed-time), and headed home for much-needed sleep.

Sunday Sites:

The next day, we had a delicious breakfast of eggs, maple-syrup bacon, and arugula…delicious! Then on to the farmer’s market packed full of food carts, local produce, and fresh fish. After picking up some veggies for the van, we went on a walk up Mt. Victoria to see a beautiful view of the city. Wellington is called “Windy Wellington” for a reason - it’s WINDY all the time! Despite it being high summer, temperatures were fairly cold due to its prime location for windiness. The gelato we had at the bottom of the mount was fulfilling in flavor but added to the sense that perhaps Wellington doesn’t really have a summer…

Sunday night, we enjoyed a 5-star picnic of Sam’s delicious lamb-rack, mashed butternut squash, and arugula with home-made pate, local cheeses, and NZ wine while watching Lisa Tomlins, an NZ singer at the Botanic Gardens Sound Shell. A perfect way to reign in the last day of my 26th year!

My birthday!

Monday I woke up turning 27 a day before Emma. I spent the day driving along the 4WD road that hugs the coast of the North Island - stunning cliffs and turqouise water everywhere! Then Nolan and I went to meet up with Yali and Gary, also now in Wellington, for a yoga session in Gary’s hotel room. From there, we lunched at Maranui on the water, indulging in NZ’s famous mussels, and then went to drink wine and talk business at Gary’s hotel. From there we headed to an outdoor courtyard for tapas and wine, and then home to a birthday cake painted like the American flag and adorned with NZ’s 3 islands.

All in all, a wonderful way to spend my birthday…good food and good friends!

Now off to the magical South Island!!