Begonias abound in the Wellington
Botanial Gardens


February is almost over. I can hear the collective sigh of relief I imagine you all making. Here, I can already feel fall in the air. University students are heading back to campus. It's a strange, topsy-turvy feeling. Slightly disorienting when I consider what time of year it is. Adding to the strangeness, I celebrated my first summer-time birthday this week, a day - up until now - that I've always associated with snow and cold, with the dreary landscape of a winter that will overstay its welcome. I woke to a grey morning, not realizing the significance of the day until halfway though my shower. I dried my hair, dressed, ate my breakfast, and the thought disappeared as quickly as it had come. As I was preparing to leave the flat, I heard rain. I hadn't been expecting rain. Oh well. Abandoning my plans to walk to work, I caught the bus instead. As I sat at my desk, working on a written reflection to pass the time, someone looking to reserve the pool car asked me what day it was. Again, the significance of the day reinstated itself. It's my birthday, I humbly uttered after stating the date. In a pleased tone, I was wished a happy birthday and asked if I had any plans. Happily, I did. I was going out to dinner with two friends and anticipated a pleasant evening. But as the day progressed, I found myself feeling a bit dejected. Little waves of homesickness permeated my afternoon.

Beehive/Parliamentary buildings
Fortunately, a couple of phone calls from home lifted my spirits - particularly the call relaying warm birthday wishes from the squirrel living in my aunt's backyard. My working day finally drew to a close and I headed straight from work to get to a long overdue appointment for a haircut. Elated at finally having some style cut into my lengthening locks, I rushed off to Oriental Thai to meet Rebecca and Kirsty. It was a great little spot. The food was delicious. The conversation and camaraderie flowed. And besides paying for my evening, I was also given a few little wrapped gifts. After we finished eating, Rebecca suggested walking over to Strawberry Fare, a restaurant known for its delectable desserts. (I wear my love of dessert on my sleeve, apparently.) We ordered two large desserts between the three of us and ate every last bite. I'm still touched by their efforts. I may have been missing my peeps from home, but they gave me a very enjoyable evening. I felt blessed and happy. To cap off the day, as I returned to the flat with Rebecca, I joyfully realized that more birthday wishes awaited me. The emails and ecards from home were great - thank you so much everyone. It meant a lot and helped ease the distance I felt from home.



Fairyland stilt walkers in parade

February has been such a busy month here in Wellington. With all the Summer City Series events taking place each week, it's been difficult to find time to take everything in. This past weekend found us at the Cuba Street Carnival - Wellington's version of the Rio de Janeiro Brazilian Mardi Gras, complete with a fantastic illuminated evening parade. The city was crowded with street performers, food and craft stalls, musical sound stages, and 150,000 people keen to participate in all the fun.



Carnival demons roamed the street
The weekend prior we went to the Baywatch-themed house party I mentioned in my last entry (Valentine's Day). With the cool weather that day, Rebecca and I assumed no one would be wearing red bathing suits and short shorts. We were wrong! The two of us were rather...overdressed. Togs and jandals (kiwi-speak for bathing suits and sandals), floatation devices, sunglasses and sun-block coated noses ruled the rooms. There was even a TV playing old Baywatch reruns. Kiwis and their costumes...



Day of the Dead flags decorated
the skies over Cuba Street for
the Carnival

I started the job with the NZ Police on Tuesday, went to see another outdoor Film by Starlight at the Botanical Gardens with Trish Wednesday night (La Tropical, a documentary about a famous Cuban dance hall of the same name), and joined Kirsty for another outdoor concert Thursday night (Fur Patrol). The job is coming along well enough. The people have been friendly, but the start of the work flow has been rather slow. Outside of a few tasks here and there, I've been spending my front-desk days writing reflections and reading a book I borrowed from the library, containing works from a creative writing course taught here in Wellington. At least I'm using the time wisely, attempting to further my creative writing idea, right? And I get paid to do it. All the same, they tell me it's just a matter of time, the work will come.
I also borrowed some books from the library on Australia. Being settled in one place for so long has created a feeling of unrest in me. The overall sparkle has gone. I'm sitting on the side-lines waiting to dance. I don't like to wait. And you all know how I feel about dancing! So I've been doing a lot of thinking, having a lot of discussions with Rebecca, and new plans are evolving. I've already travelled New Zealand from tip to tip. I don't pretend to think I've seen and done everything, but do I really want to spend the next 7 months here? I definitely have more New Zealand travel to do, but I'm also starting to see small pieces of Australia in my future, along with a very faint shadow of Hawaii, and a vivid picture of British Columbia displaying the possibility of a longer stay and a few side trips built-in... But it's early days, early days. I still have a month of work to get through and some research and scheduling to do before anything is finalized.
In the meantime, Wellington will do it's best to pacify and entertain me. There's a Tango & Salsa Ball taking place Saturday night to which I'm looking forward, and I have an information interview scheduled with a Wellington writer Monday after work. What stories and plans will I have to relay the next time I blog?

Your vicarious adventurer,

Holly