Wellington.
Wellington was an experience.
Work was work. I learnt a few things about what I do, and about working for a government organisation.
I got to know one of the guys I work with quite well though. He has done just about every adventure “sport” known. His favourite… SCUBA diving in flooded caves. He said it is absolutely terrifying to swim in total darkness guided only by a cord you trailed out behind you, but incredibly surreal to be “flying” along the top of a huge cave filled with clear water and looking at the rocks 40m below.
The flight back was also an experience. It’s been years since I walked out to a plane, and even longer since I went in a commercial plane with propellers.
I used to despise Wellington. When I was younger it always felt like it had this smug attitude. Or maybe it was just because every time I went there the weather was horrendously shit. I’m talking about torrential rain, massive flooding and 6m swells on the ferry crossing. Not once, not twice, but on three separate occasions in 10 years.
Now I like it. Maybe I’m just able to appreciate it more these days, but the city seemed to have a real buzz to it. A very sweaty and muggy one, but a definite sense of energy and purpose. Christchurch has that sometimes, but when you wander around the narrow inner city roads of Wellington you feel engulfed by the looming skyscrapers owned by multinationals, yet get a sense of where “we” as a nation came from by the historic buildings. The cynic in me would comment on how the historic buildings now form the outer shell of the lower level on these high rises, but that’s not something to think about now.
Maybe I’m just ridiculously tired, but today I was very much in “city mode” and appreciated Wellington for what it is.
Which is why on Saturday I might spend the weekend walking to the head of the Cameron Valley, and spend some time just admiring the glacier and arête mountains. And freezing in my 25 year old sleeping bag which might not agree with the idea of a mountain hut without a fire……
:D
Oh…. in Wellington I saw a shop called “55 MINUTE DRYCLEANERS”. That made me laugh. Would people really be swayed by that extra five minutes saved? And I saw an odd looking old guy standing in a square of amplifiers making didgeridoo like noises over a microphone. He would hum for a bit, stop and stare at the sky, then hum some more. Good for him haha!
“But for now I miss your smile”. :(
Work was work. I learnt a few things about what I do, and about working for a government organisation.
I got to know one of the guys I work with quite well though. He has done just about every adventure “sport” known. His favourite… SCUBA diving in flooded caves. He said it is absolutely terrifying to swim in total darkness guided only by a cord you trailed out behind you, but incredibly surreal to be “flying” along the top of a huge cave filled with clear water and looking at the rocks 40m below.
The flight back was also an experience. It’s been years since I walked out to a plane, and even longer since I went in a commercial plane with propellers.
I used to despise Wellington. When I was younger it always felt like it had this smug attitude. Or maybe it was just because every time I went there the weather was horrendously shit. I’m talking about torrential rain, massive flooding and 6m swells on the ferry crossing. Not once, not twice, but on three separate occasions in 10 years.
Now I like it. Maybe I’m just able to appreciate it more these days, but the city seemed to have a real buzz to it. A very sweaty and muggy one, but a definite sense of energy and purpose. Christchurch has that sometimes, but when you wander around the narrow inner city roads of Wellington you feel engulfed by the looming skyscrapers owned by multinationals, yet get a sense of where “we” as a nation came from by the historic buildings. The cynic in me would comment on how the historic buildings now form the outer shell of the lower level on these high rises, but that’s not something to think about now.
Maybe I’m just ridiculously tired, but today I was very much in “city mode” and appreciated Wellington for what it is.
Which is why on Saturday I might spend the weekend walking to the head of the Cameron Valley, and spend some time just admiring the glacier and arête mountains. And freezing in my 25 year old sleeping bag which might not agree with the idea of a mountain hut without a fire……
:D
Oh…. in Wellington I saw a shop called “55 MINUTE DRYCLEANERS”. That made me laugh. Would people really be swayed by that extra five minutes saved? And I saw an odd looking old guy standing in a square of amplifiers making didgeridoo like noises over a microphone. He would hum for a bit, stop and stare at the sky, then hum some more. Good for him haha!
“But for now I miss your smile”. :(