Sunday morning. Wellington is wet and grey this morning. My friend Steff seems to have taken the last few days sunshine back to Oz with her.
But it would take a lot more than the weather to dampen my spirits today! There's nothing better than facing into another week at work knowing that you've made the absolute most of your weekend. And that's what we did!
On Friday evening, I skipped off work early (perk of being The Manager 
) and raced back home to gather up a few bits and pieces into a bag. Simon, my flatmate, arrived home early too and said that he would drive me out to the airport which was great! Saved me having to trudge into town and find an over-priced airport shuttle. My flight was only an hour to Wellington and when I landed at 9:30pm Steff was aiting for me in the arrivals hall! It was great to see her again. We headed out of the airport in search of a bus into town and ended up getting a lift from a baggage handler called Ray who was on his lunchbreak and ran us into the city out of the goodness of his heart! THANKS RAY! I dumped my stuff and we didnt waste any time hitting the town. Friday was Steff's birthday so we started proceedings with some cocktails and outrageously expensive red wine! lol. (Tip: never let the waitress pick the wine for you!) Then we hit the bubbly and it turned into a great night, hopping from bar to bar in Wellington's hio COurtenay Place. We met lots of great people and found a couple of obliging Irish men to abuse. The photos speak for themselves!! ROFL!!
) and raced back home to gather up a few bits and pieces into a bag. Simon, my flatmate, arrived home early too and said that he would drive me out to the airport which was great! Saved me having to trudge into town and find an over-priced airport shuttle. My flight was only an hour to Wellington and when I landed at 9:30pm Steff was aiting for me in the arrivals hall! It was great to see her again. We headed out of the airport in search of a bus into town and ended up getting a lift from a baggage handler called Ray who was on his lunchbreak and ran us into the city out of the goodness of his heart! THANKS RAY! I dumped my stuff and we didnt waste any time hitting the town. Friday was Steff's birthday so we started proceedings with some cocktails and outrageously expensive red wine! lol. (Tip: never let the waitress pick the wine for you!) Then we hit the bubbly and it turned into a great night, hopping from bar to bar in Wellington's hio COurtenay Place. We met lots of great people and found a couple of obliging Irish men to abuse. The photos speak for themselves!! ROFL!!When I finally crawled into my bunkbed at 6 in the morning it was bright outside. Ugh. Wait, Im supposed to be living a detox lifestyle in NZ...? Arranged to meet steff at 2pm and crashed out for a few hours. That afternoon, we were both a bit wasted and thought "Hmmm..wouldnt a facial be lovely right about now?" So we tramped the streets of Welly in search of beauty therapy but none was to be found, and instead we found a coffee bar and sat on our asses for a couple of hours writing ridiculous postcards and solving the world's problems. Cinema seemed a good way to put down the evening, and we went along to The Embassy, probably the nicest cinema I have ever been in. I could happily have hung out in the ladies bathroom for the rest of the wknd. The movie was excellent, "Water", GO and see it soon.
It wasnt long before our minds turned towards food yet again, and Steff knew this great Malaysian restaurant that she had been to 3 yrs ago. The food was amazing and I had something called Mangolassi - bascially a non-alcoholic cocktail with mangos and other delicious things. YUM! We emerged hours later stuffed and unable to walk for the weight in our tummies! Ugh. Overdid it .....again!! Back to the hostel for a little rest before heading out. We went to a bar called Matterhorn and happened to walk in on a live gig with a band called Big Egg. Perfect. Live music, comfy leather couch, a few "quiet" drinks. Just what we needed. the bad were great and had a fantastic sound. Barry White meets rap music meets funk or soul or something. The whole bar was grooving and the atmosphere\ was deadly!
Three oclock saw us wandering back towards the hostel for Steff to catch her shuttle to the airport. Both of us had a great wknd and vowed to do it all again soon! Hopefully, Ill be catching up with her again before she goes back to the Northern Hemisphere. 
And so, its back to Auckland for me tomorrow at the ungodly hour of 5:30a.m. I have to head straight to work when I land. UGH!
