A Merry Christmas in the Sun

Christmas Eve was a blustering, grey and rainy day, and the forecast was for Christmas to be even worse.  With some disappointment, we took refuge in the movie theater, keen to see The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug.  Now I don't know what the other movie theaters in Wellington are like, but this theater was posh as.  From the street the theater is humble and unassuming, but once we walk through the doors it opens into a grand entryway with marble staircases leading to the first floor and houses two classy ultra-modern bars (yes, you can drink beer while you watch your movie in NZ).  It's no wonder (or perhaps coincidence) that the theater hosts the world premiers of the LOTR and Hobbit films.  Even the bathrooms were overflowing with class (which is the only thing you ever want overflowing in bathrooms)! I enjoyed the movie, despite its length.  

All class

This bar looks like it good be in a 007 film!

Once the movie finally ended, we went to the grocery store to grab the ingredients for our meals the following day, since even the large cities in New Zealand shut down for Christmas.  After my suggestion of peanut butter and jelly for Christmas dinner was contemptuously vetoed (frugal to the end!), we decided we were going to make an attempt at Jumbalaya.  Once back at the hostel we stashed the food and went back out to meet up with one of Kayleigh's friends from work, Sarah, who had recently moved to Wellington.  We met with her at about 8pm at an Irish bar on Cuba Street and she had brought her entire hostel with her.  That started the beginning of a what was to be a long and unexpected night on the town.  

We ended up meeting up with Elien and Jonas who were staying at the same hostel we were, (the Belgian couple mentioned in previous posts) and heading to a Tequileria on the nightlife street of Courtenay.  We exchanged round after round and before you know it, it was midnight at the bar was shutting down since it was now Christmas Day.  Luckily on the walk back to our hostel we passed a place called Afrika with music blaring from inside it's glass walls.  After briefly dancing in front of the glass door , they decided to let us in, provided we just danced and didn't buy anymore alcohol.  Of course, Jonas went straight to the bar and ordered two more rounds.  Unfortunately, we were all quite drunk so nobody thought to take any photos.  It was a fantastic Christmas Eve.

On Christmas everything faded into view.  Our eyes bleary, our minds dreary, but the weather outside was anything but.  Brilliant sunshine filled the city.  Kayleigh was convinced it was a Christmas miracle.  As you can imagine, we had a bit of a slow start to the morning, but after sharing some coffee and seafood omelets with Elien and Jonas we were ready to get out to the beach.  Together we all walked down to Oriental Bay, Wellington's city beach.  In terms of beaches it isn't particularly impressive, but the water is blue and warm enough on a sunny day.  We relaxed and chatted and snacked for a few hours.  At one point Jonas and I decided to try and swim to a barge just offshore.  It looked close enough, but I may have overestimated my swimming abilities or power of the choppy waters.  After my feet could no longer touch the ground, I made it about a half of the distance between there and the dingy when I started to lose steam.  I turned back and my head was bobbing under the water with each wave by the time I made it back to where I could stand.  Scared me well enough.  Jonas ended up making it, but when he swam back he told us the dingy had been his lifeboat, and the other two guys he shared the spot with were considering calling for help to get back after having almost drowned getting there.  And here I thought I was just a wimp.

A natural Christmas tree! Complete with a star!

Whoa there Sasquatch, must have been a crazy night for you to end up out there!

Kayleigh, Megan, Elien, and Jonas

We retired to the hostel to relax.  The Jumbalaya turned out amazing and was a wonderful end to a wonderful Christmas day.  

*Some of you may remember that Kayleigh and I had originally planned on living in Wellington instead of Auckland, and after exploring the city and its surround I've convinced that we made the right choice in Auckland.  While the social scene is much better in Wellington, and it is no doubt a much more beautiful city, it's just damned cold and it is difficult to find a place to park a camper van.  Not to mention all the amazing beaches and the Waitakeres in Auckland. 

Oh, and sorry for unsynchronized gap between the blogs but they take some time to write and upload, I'm doing what I can.