Adventures of the Superfly: What a place!

12 September 2006

This post contains more photo's so it might take longer than usual to download. :o)

I truly wish you all could se this city through my eyes. No really! Wellington is a full-on city, well, a first world city... Skyscrapers, hundreds of coffee shops and restaurants, open air malls, harbour waterfront, suburbs... aaannnddd Rivers, forest covered hills, beaches, natural bays, did I mention beaches? Oh yea... If a city needed lots of violent crime to be called a city, Wellington would be a town... or anything else.

The type of crime South Africans take in stride as normal parts of life does not exist here and the locals are absolutely horrified at news reports coming from South Africa. It makes you think, doesn't it?

Anyways... As a wise man once said, life goes on... Last weekend John rented a car so we can do some grocery shopping and sightseeing. I've tried to equate Wellington to towns in South Africa and the closest I came is a combination of Cape Town crossed with Stellenbosh... We have found some remarkable resemblances to Balito, Scarborough and Simonstad too... In short I am left with a distinct lack of graceful words when trying to describe what an awesome city this is.

We started our mini-tour by driving up Mount Victoria. It is quite like the suburb Clifton in Cape-Town being extremely hilly but it is situated in the middle of town and gives you awesome 360 degree views of the city. A bullish North Wester started blowing in early morning so visibility wasn't too good. I'm sure you'll be able to get some of the detail from the photo's though! So we stood on Mt Victoria and tried our best not to gape in amasement at the picture playing itself out infront of us. (Gotta tell you that wind was strong!)

We headed down the hill and started in the direction of Lyall bay, the notorious surfing beach with regular swells in excess off 2 ft. No really not 2 meters, 2 foot swells... I'm sure a longboard will do just fine! (Ok so it's not J-Bay, actually it's not even close) For better surfing action I'd suggest Plimmerton, Raglan and Phia. We followed the coastal road through gorgious little suburbs nestled between hills and the sea, quite like Simonstad in the Cape, just smaller. The seawater, however, is crystal clear, providing awesome spaces for freediving, snorkeling, scuba and spearfishing. Later the day John and I had a walk next to the Hutt River. I have to be completely honest, when summer arrives I'll be swimming that river like it was a backyard pool!

Let me take you on a little virtual tour. We start off at our flat in the CBD. As we climb into the car you're amazed at how many cars are parked safely on the roadside. Imagine that, your car is exactly where you left it and the radio is still there, windows intact! We start off down Boulcott Street, then turn right onto Willis st. A few lighthearted students pass cross the street at the intersection... Young ladies walking around in the inner city wearing jewelry, no fear, no worries. Think about that for a second, it actually is worth mentioning. As we turn right into Willis st your eyes catch the silhouette of St Mary's cathedral against the bluest sky you've ever seen. You inhale deeply and strangely, you don't smell the usual stench that is the normal baggage carried by city atmosphere... Eventually we're heading down the Parade. As if from nowhere, the glimmer of a million crystals grab your attention. Lyall Bay... You expect the onshore breeze to carry a strong warning of saltwater but it doesn't. Could this be the sea? When we reach the Esplanade you can hear the soft breath of a tide and a gentle salty scent confirms your suspicion - the sea it is! The breeze is just salty enough to invite you to a barefoot walk on the beach. Could seawater be so clean... It's unreal. The alps of the south island are just visible to the south, to the west are some more bays and to the east unnamed hills. We turn left toward worser bay. Every turn in the road reveals more peacefull hills and pristine bays. We pass some divers in Worser bay. They chat lightheartedly about the mysteries they've uncovered... Someone's gonna have crayfish for dinner! All the time you keep asking yourself: "am I really living here?" What a place!

A Map of the pics! Areas marked in big red squares were photo spots.