Welly Town

Surviving my game of chicken with the trucks on the Thermal Explorer Highway, we got into Wellington on Wednesday night. We check into the downtown hostel and get the lift up to the 5th floor. In the lift with us are a 17 year old Kiwi boy and girl. The boy is the campest guy I've ever seen and he really does squeal when Shin tells him we're from Scotland. "We're from the South Island," he says, "we're just here for a night out and getting the ferry back to Christchurch tomorrow. You totally have to come out with us. It's student night and it $2 a drink. You gotta come out with us. It's like totally student night."

They get out on the third floor and I turn to Shin and say: "OK. So now I actually feel like I'm 103." She laughs and says: "I think we just met the 'only gay on the South Island." We get to the room and discover we have bunk beds. Shin tells me I've to take the top one. I climb up the steps precariously - feeling even more ancient - and crawl along the bed. It's totally shaking and wobbling. "Shin I think this is going to fall on you." Sinead tightens some of the screws and then says: "I like that we have bunk beds. It means I can talk to you without having to look at you." She's so sweet and lovely.

The accommodation is really central so we popped out for a wee walk and a few shandies. We begin the next day by hiring bikes and cycling along the promenade. We don't have a map or a guidebook and haven't discussed what we want to 'achieve' for the day, so I start getting twitchy. I can tell Sinead is about 3 seconds from knocking me off my bike and driving over me repeatedly, so I suggest we split up to do our own thing and meet back at 4pm to get the cable car to the botanic gardens.

I go shopping and buy myself another pair of Havianas and two pairs of big sunglasses (one in baby pink and one in red). I check out the beautifully restored Embassy Theatre where they had the Lord of the Rings premiere, browse in the book shops and have lunch at a Turkish restaurant whilst doing a spot of writing.

At 4pm, we meet and take the cable car to the top of the hill. I show Sinead my sunglasses and she laughs her head off at me. "It's an individual look, Lis." We're sitting on the tram and I'm holding an oversized bag with my new shoes in it. The straps on my vest tops have fallen down and I'm wearing tiny little shorts. Sinead looks at me and erupts: "You look like you're totally naked apart from those ridiculous Elton John specs. You're a total nutcase." "Are you embarrassed to be seen with me?" "No, not all the time."

We're rewarded with stunning views of Wellington when we get to the top. We end up going to the Cable Car museum, which was actually really interesting. They had a replica of an old cable car so I got Shin to snap some pictures of me with my specs and oversized bag. "Lis, I can't believe you're making me do this. It's like porn - in a tram." We laughed at the photos all the way back down the hill.

Back on the waterfront, we had a couple of drinks at an outdoor bar and I headed along to Te Papa - the National Museum. It was excellent - really well-designed and loads to see. They even had an outdoor section that was like a prehistoric jungle with caves and areas where kids could dig up bones and stuff.

That night, we went out to an Italian restaurant that was supposed to be traditional and homely. Thus, we were quite amused to find chicken curry on the menu. We went back home after that and tried to get everything into our bags. It's getting harder and harder!

The next morning, we caught a flight to Queenstown via Christchurch and Shin got chatted up by a big Kiwi called Greg. He had huge hands and could lift our bags really easily.