New Zealand trip, day 11: All's well in Wellington

Tuesday, October 11

I wonder what cows think about--or if they think about anything. I've been pondering cows' behavior a lot lately since we've been taking road trips through plenty of pastures for sheep and cows alike. Like today on the bus ride to Wellington.

We woke up early and, since it was raining and the house is two miles from the bus station, we called a cab. A chipper cabbie named Bobsta picked us up and took us to the City Centre (downtown) where we purchased our bus tickets and hopped on the bus. It was about a seven-hour bus ride, and I spent most of the ride reading Grisham's A Time to Kill and periodically took breaks to watch the cow pastures go by.

We arrived in Wellington mid-afternoon, walked a couple minutes to our hostel, and were enthusiastically greeted by our new roommate, Fabio from Milan. If I remember correctly, he's here for a year for school--his university in Milan partners with a university here in Wellington--and he's staying in the hostel until he can find an apartment.

After Fabio excused himself to visit an Internet cafe, Josh and I went down the the lobby to read through Wellington attractions pamphlets and nail down our plans for the next couple days. Then we went out walking on the waterfront, coupled with a search for a grocery store. Architecture in Wellington is incredibly diverse. I don't know all the technical terms to describe it well, so just take my word for it that it's diverse. :)

We came back, made dinner with our newly-acquired groceries in the massive communal kitchen, discussed theology, and went upstairs to our room. Fabio was there, and was just as full of energy as our first encounter. He and Josh headed downstairs to the hangout room while I stayed upstairs to brush my teeth and read more Grisham. Somewhere in there I met Harry, another roommate from Ireland, who has been traveling in Australia, NZ South Island, and is now working his way up through the North Island. Harry left, and in came Nick from South Wales. He's here in New Zealand working with earthquake aftermath. While Nick and I were talking, our sixth and final roommate popped in and back out. He's from England, but that's about all I know about him right now. It's interesting to meet such a diverse group of people and suddenly be their roommate for a few days. This should be interesting. I'm excited about the new experience!