Wellington
Wellington is a great city. Whenever I arrive here, I get excited. In a plane, you come in over the sea to land on the very short airstrip at Seatoun. You wonder if the pilot will make it or drop the plane in the sea. You gaze out at the wooden houses dotting the green hills and the harbour sparkling below. By car, you come round the corner on the motorway to see the harbour and the city laid out in front of you. On a good day it is fabulous. But of course, Wellington's weather is its downfall. Often cooler than the rest of the North Island and geographically placed to be pretty much the windiest place in the country, it may look great but when you get out of the plane or car you are bombarded by the elements.
Returning this time, the weather has been fairly kind to us. The wind has been a feature, as usual. We went to the Island Bay festival. This was a cute affair with a market, fishing boats being blessed by the local clergy and some very good local bands. Unfortunately, the wind threatened to blow the whole thing away! Not a lot has changed in Wellington in the last couple of years. The harbour area has been done up and new playgrounds and cafes abound. It's great to catch up with friends here. I do miss them. Everyone says New Zealanders are friendly. I think this is largely true but for me the thing that marks out New Zealanders in terms of attitude is their ability to see the positive side of everything. There is very much a 'can do' undertone to Kiwi life. When I first arrived here in 1993, I found this rather annoying and suspicious – 'They can't really be that nice. Are they taking the...' - but it is genuine.
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