A Glimpse of Typical Wellington Weather.

   Well, another week has ended. Where did it go? To quote a very under-respected band, “where does time go?”

   Okay anyways, this week has seriously flown by. I feel like I did so much! It’s getting colder here in Wellington, but I’m trying to hold on to the last shreds of summer!

   Monday was the worst weather we’ve had since I’ve been here. It was awful! It was windy, rainy, and cold all day long. The newspaper said we had gusts of up to 100 km/h and 70 mm of rain. For those of you not using the metric system, that’s over 60 mph and over 2.5 inches. Yikes! I got absolutely drenched on my walk to class, and I had to spend a few hours at uni wet and uncomfortable. Not fun. Apparently the winters in Wellington are cold, windy and rainy. No snow. I am not looking forward to it!

   Tuesday was much better though, but I spent the whole day inside! I had some classes, but I mainly worked on my photography project. It was due Thursday, and I spent so so so much time working on it! Almost 6 hours on Tuesday alone. For photo class, I need to keep a blog, so if you’re interested in my photos and class work, here’s the link! www.mollymaine144.blogspot.com

   When I got home on Tuesday, I had the most lovely surprise waiting for me – a package from home! Madeline, Napoleone, and Dagwood sent me tons of candy! I think Mom and Dad might have helped a little bit, though. It was such a nice surprise and I loved it!

I'll try not to eat this all in one sitting. No promises.

   Wednesday morning, I checked my mailbox, and what did I find but a letter from home. 2 in a row! It totally made my day! I really needed it, too, because I spent nearly 5 more hours working on my project Wednesday. Photoshopping is hard work!

   That night, I had a ticket to go see the comedian Arj Barker. He was so funny. It was an amazing show. Afterwards, he was out at the merchandise booth.. I’ve never seen that before. I bought a funny little sticker pack and got Arj’s autograph, and I also got a picture with him! He seems so cool.

Arj, where did your face go?

We look good together.

   I decided to go back to campus and finish my photo project after the show. Hand-in was noon on Thursday, and I didn’t want to have to wake up early to finish it. I was so ready to be done with it! I headed back to the Te Aro campus (not Kelburn, which is on top of the hill) around 930 or 10, and got right to work. I finished up at 1130, as the security guard came in to kick us all out! Perfect timing! It felt so good to be done with the project. You should really take a look at it on my other blog, it’s pretty cool!

Part of my photo project. Yum!!

   Since I didn’t have to work on photo Thursday, I went out and explored Wellington some more. There is so much to see and do here! For lunch, I got the most delicious falafel burger from a little shop next door. I’ve been meaning to go there for ages, and I’m glad I finally did. I walked over to Parliament and ate my lunch on the front steps. How cool!

Welly's wind, getting the best of me.

   Afterwards, I took the cable car up to the Botanic Garden. I love the cable car :)

As if I haven't posted some version of this photo enough...

   I followed the Sculpture Trail in the garden, and saw some amazing sculptures scattered in the bush. It was the perfect day for it – not too warm and not too cold, and sunny. I spent a lot of time in the garden; it’s so beautiful! And free!

My favorite sculpture, "Rudderstone," from both sides.

   Next on my agenda for the day was the Bolton Street Cemetery. It’s a cemetery that was founded along with the first settlement in Wellington in 1840. There is so much history there! It’s rather tragic that in the 1960s, the city built a huge motorway through the center of the cemetery. They exhumed and reinterred about 3,700 of the 8,700 bodies in the process. It was so heartbreaking to see huge stone walls just inches away from some gravestones. I don’t understand how the motorway was allowed to be built! By the way, there are no Baillargeons that died in Wellington. I checked the registery. I was hopeful!

The huge motorway bisecting the cemetery.. so sad.

   I guess I was feeling ambitious Thursday, because I accomplished a lot. After the Botanic Garden and the Bolton St. Cemetery, I walked up to Kelburn campus since I was in the area to run a few errands. I then walked all the way across town to the National Film Archive. They have over 100,000 film clips that you can view for free! I got there a bit late, so instead of heading down into the library, I watched a couple short documentaries they had showing. It was such a cool place, and I’m definitely going to take advantage of all the free materials they have there!

   Thursday night, I cooked a yummy dinner of chicken and veggies. Who says uni students can't cook?!

   Friday I had to present my photo project to the class. This is the second photo project, so I've had some practice. It wasn't so bad. I think the lecturers and the class liked my project. Much better than the first project!
   Friday night Hallie and I went out to dinner with her buddy and friends for her buddy's birthday. We went to a japanese place, and I had sushi! I've only had it once, and that was a long time ago, so I kind of count this as the first real time I've ever had sushi. It was so yum! What a great night.

Chopsticks are hard.

   This weekend should be fun - I have two 21st birthday parties to attend. Although the drinking age is 18 here in New Zealand, they still make a big deal out of 21. I'm not sure why, 'cause nothing changes when you turn 21. It should be fun though!