Day 16: The Windiest City in the World
Wednesday, September 11th
Today was a simple day! We woke up & took our time. It’s probably been our most chill day thus far. We took our time getting ready. We made breakfast. I cooked up some egg whites & Christopher ate a “Bacon & egg pie” one of the things they eat here and sell everywhere. It’s like a miniature pot pie. They fill them with different meats (minced meat, steak, chicken) and/or cheeses. LOL at all of the faces he makes in the photos I take. Christopher spent the morning doing more mapping out of the South Island.
We went downtown Wellington. It’s the windiest city on earth, but we lucked out and there was hardly any wind today. The town is super cute. We walked along the water. We are surrounded by mountains. As we walk toward the town center, it reminds me of Paris with one of the older buildings and lots of great shops. It’s a cute little town.
Christopher is from Maryland, and I’m from Indiana, but we have both in Florida for quite some time. We are not used to this cold. Today we are on a mission for more warm clothes. We end up hitting the jackpot at a store called Kathmandu. They are all over here. It’s similar to Patagonia. Christopher gets a nice new jacket and I got a cool sweater. We both got these awesome hiking cargos. We love to match, so of course we got the same ones. (All their clothing was pretty unisex, considering it’s outerwear).
We explore some other local shops, I get some super cheap long sleeves from a random store for extra layers.
Our next stop is good ol’ Woolsworth. (The main grocery store here). This is where we drop the real dough. We stock up big time. We load up on toiletries, food, water, warm socks, & laundry detergent. It was probably the biggest grocery haul Christopher and I have ever done together, but it was because we want to be stocked up and ready to go for the South Island tomorrow! We have only eaten out once since we have been in New Zealand, and we probably won’t eat out at all anytime soon.
I never really count groceries as an expense when it comes to traveling, because you have to buy food no matter where you are, and if you’re going to the grocery store while you’re on a trip, it’s the same as it would be back home, and much cheaper than eating out! I honestly prefer to eat at home. I love to cook for Christopher and myself.
We get back to the campsite, I make us dinner (Christopher wanted some pork puns), I organize our stuff, and we map out more places we want to travel to, including Europe stops. Christopher showed me a cool thing on Google maps where you can save locations you want to visit. You can share it with another person and collaborate. I highly recommend this if you’re ever planning a trip! You can save towns, restaurants, coffee shops, activities, etc. and create different boards/lists.
We have to be up early to catch the ferry tomorrow, so it’s bed time. We leave at 8:45, but the check-in is an hour before, since we have a vehicle. The coldest & best adventures of New Zealand are just around the corner!
My highlight was simply exploring Wellington & seeing the town on the water & the building that reminded me of Paris, also FaceTiming Christopher’s mom when we were downtown. His highlight was laughing all day over random things as we shopped & goofed off.
