We Have Arrived! Wellington Look Out!

Ok, so that's probably a little over dramatic, however we did safely land in Wellington at 8:00am this morning, kiwi time. So far we've been dealing with the jet lag pretty well (flying the direction we did was actually quite helpful and arriving at 8am meant we could sleep for most of the flight from LA, making for a long day yesterday but a pretty normal day today). We arrived at the Quest on Gilmer, our hotel for the next 9 days. It's OK, but I definitely should have sprung for the slightly larger room, as we're staying in a small hotel room that's had a kitchenette crammed into it.

Since we had the full day ahead of us and we didn't want to fall into the trap of sleeping, we headed out as soon as we could to take care of some business.

First thing, we checked into our bank to get the account we'd created earlier activated in earnest. While in Canada we tried to transfer cash using a third party and were completely unsuccessful. Hopefully now that the account is up and running it will be easier.

Then we took a good tour around Lambton Quay, one of the main drags of the Wellington CBD (central business district - aka Downtown). Findings of note: the "outdoor gear" corner, where we found the MacPac store (just for Timo ;) ) and two other gear stores. Conclusion: order online.

We also found one of 2 rock climbing gyms in the Wellington region. It looks ok, not Coyote by any stretch, but it should aleviate any climbing itches we have. We'll post up more info this weekend when we actually climb it.

Also discovered that Wellington has more coffee shops per block then ANYWHERE I've ever been. And they all seem to be full, even at 2pm on a Thursday. Oh, they make a great cup of coffee too. I've found my new addiction already, flat whites (2 shots of espresso topped with milk and a touch of foam)

It's been a good first day so far. Apartment hunting comes next, we have 14 to be called so far. It's incredible how much you can get done online now... we're even avoiding the hotel's rediculous connection charges by using Skype to call out.