It was a beautiful warm, sunny morning so I soaked in the outdoor bathtub for the last time. I’m going to miss it! Enjoyed my coffee, toast and grapefruit while reading more of the Billy Connolly book.
Hopped on the bus to meet Annemarie at a cafe near the beach at Lyall Bay. On the second bus a little girl was giggling as the bus went around corners, another girl was using her flip flops to brush her hair and a little boy was standing on the seat next to his grandma asking ‘What’s that?’ and ‘Why?’ about everything we passed.
Because so many people take most of January off for the school holidays and there is a lack of bus drivers, the buses have reverted to a Saturday schedule during the weekdays for the entire month of January! The government extended half price fares through the end of March as a way to continue to encourage people to use the buses and to help ease the impact of inflation on those most affected.
There were lots of folks at the beach-families, dog walkers and people out in the water with boogie boards and surfboards. I walked past a group getting surfing lessons, since Lyall Bay is large and protected it’s a great place to learn to surf. It’s kind of surreal to be walking barefoot on the beach while reading stories of the storms back at home.
We went back to Annemarie’s, she made bagels and we watched Everything Everywhere All At Once. What a trippy movie! It was captivating trying to figure out what was going on with all the different intersecting lives and Pop culture references. I was particularly impressed with Ke Huy Quan’s ability to instantly morph into a different character through subtle changes to his facial expressions.
We ended the day by going out to dinner at a fancy French restaurant called Hippopotamus. The restaurant is in a hotel that used to be located where Te Papa now is across the street. When Wellington City Council started redeveloping the waterfront the owners of the hotel decided to move it across the street rather than demolish it and after much preparation, over the course of a weekend, it was wheeled across the street. For many years it was called Hotel de Wheels but now is part of a chain of luxury hotels in New Zealand and Australia called QT. There is striking artwork all over the hotel and restaurant. We had a great view of the harbor and Te Papa from our table. The food was delicious, though very haute cuisine portions, lol!
The sun was setting as I headed home and did not disappoint, it’s going to be strange not having long summer days. I got back in time to hang out with Mary and Owen, I’ve had such a great time staying at their cabin and will really miss seeing them regularly.
