Absolutely Positively Wellington

... is the slogan from the Wellington city council for promoting Welly and things to do here. It is a nice evocative slogan and I like it, much like I like Wellington. I have actually been in the city for a week now and the more I get to know it the more I like it. Welly combines so many of the things I look for in a city. It is a cosmopolitan city with a great deal of art of culture, partially stemming from it's status as New Zealand's capital. Welly is also just in a beautiful setting, it's harbor is gourgeous no matter how many angles see it it from and it is sliced through and closed off with hills and small mountains. You are never more than a few kilometers from both no matter where you are. Wellington also has benefited from these two natural barriers in another way. Its forced the city to stay very compact. You can walk most places and bike anywhere it no time. Welly has suburbs, but they are true, well defined suburbs, not sprawl.

Wellington is also just small, there aren't that many people here. The city proper has about 170,000 and there are another 200,000 in the burbs. Many people talk about big cities that feel small, I think Wellington is a small city that feels big. With all the culture, large buildings, and restaurants and cafes (Wellington supposedly has some of the most such establishments per capita of any city) you feel as if you are at the center of some huge city. Instead it is all just right there.

For a city of its size there is so much to discover. I have been the national museum, Te Papa, 3 times now and haven't seen half of it. Today Ben and I went on a great hike that took us from one of the suburbs (we took a train) through mountains and parks back into the city. During this we saw the South Island for the first time. Yesterday Pjay and I went mountain biking and found ourselves in a Newtown, a working class neighborhood of Wellington that we immediately fell in love with. On Friday we went to the National Rugby League semi-final, which the local team, the Lions were playing in and won. I've been running a good deal (I'll get to that) and have been discovering some parts of the city that way as well; little enclaves of shops that the top of hills, stairwells that provide convenient short cuts, and new places to eat, though mostly we just cook. We eat well though, we have been having a lot of Lamb, I love reasonably priced Lamb.

I've been working at Leuvan, a Belgian Beer Cafe for a few days now. I think I am going to stick it out there. I am waiting tables, it was tough at first, the place is very busy and there was a lot of stuff to learn, but I am getting there. They like me, though the owner is a bit of jerk, one of the assistant managers is awesome. It is good experience. They have a real nice menu and a great beer selection. They needed more people so Pjay went in and applied and he is working there now too. The money isn't great, but it's money and the hours are steady. Plus I get off from 2pm-3pm each day so I have enough time to go to a museum or go mountain biking or just get a beer and relax each day. Though it is tough waking up at 545am, I just kinda do it.

Also I have become pretty committed to running a marathon. Actually I have found the one I want to do and it is ambitious. It is an off road marathon in the South Island in March. It looks hard, a lot of hills and you have to carry some of your own water plus some bad weather gear. Still it looks awesome and would be a great challenge. I think I am going to run a 1/2 marathon in town mid December. I'll let you know how it goes. Here is the Link to the marathon.

Other than that, life is good, I just can't wait to get out of the hostel and into our own flat in a couple weeks. Hope all is well with you all. Bye.

Joey