Wellington, day 3:

For our last day in Wellington, Ben and I decided to do a little bit of a tramp. It began by walking on one of the steeper streets in San Fran Wellington:

I know it doesn't look that steep, but trust me, for two fat Americans, it was plenty steep enough. At the top of the street, we got to begin the tramp:

Again, I realized just exactly how fat and lazy of an American I really am. What was really interesting about the area, however, was that it looks exactly like home: dirt and pine trees going up a mountain-that's-really-a-hill. Just look at this picture and tell me that I'm crazy, c'mon, I dare ya. I was back in Dog Valley, hiking.

Luckily, I was travelling with a boy scout, so there was never any *ahem* fear of getting lost.

Anyways, after a longer hike than it probably should have been, we reached the summit of Mt. Victoria, and were rewarded with a really nice vantage. Here's some pictures at the top:

Earlier I called the city San Fran Wellington, there's a reason behind that. The city honestly reminded me of San Francisco; it had long, steep streets. It was around a bay. It gave off the vibrant undercurrent of a much larger city. The skyscrapers in the middle of town made the city seem much larger than its 300,000 citizens actually make it. That, and it felt like San Francisco. Nonetheless, it was a pretty view.

This was at the summit too, a monument to the Antarctic Treaty signed by some countries for some purpose (it's politics, I don't really care). What's great, is that I used my camera to manipulate this picture so that the monument looks really awesome. I assure you, in real life it looks like some 8 year old tagger had a go at a pyramid.

From Mt. Vic we walked down to the one and only beach that Wellington boasts. I read my new book, Nightwatch, which I have since finished, and ben made Sand Angels with Trang's friend Lizi.

We then returned home, walked past the bar we spent St. Pattie's day at (The Only Welsh Bar in the Southern Hemisphere that's actually a remodeled public restroom), hung out at Trang's dorm for a bit, and left to find that it was past 6 o'clock on a Sunday, and therefore the city was closed. We ended up going to a supermarket at the train station and buying chicken sandwitches for dinner. We had scarcely finished when the bus arrived and we returned home to Palmerston North, somewhat wiser and happier for the experience.

The Government Buildings in Wellington, New Zealand's Capitol. There more commonly referred to as "the Beehives."

~The Only Welsh Bar in the Southern Hemisphere.

-And The Only Welsh Bar I've Ever Heard Of.