” Ah, next week? Too bad, you could have come to my birthday party!” My new bus stop friend had a very heavy accent, and to be honest, I’m not sure if he really said “birthday”.
“Haha, well too bad. ” I replied. It was a standard statement, usable in almost any situation.
As I stepped back out onto Lambton Quay from the teeeeeny alley that had begun the Cable Car Journey, I wondered which direction to head. I chose to wander some more down Lambton to the end, eyeing the shops as I passed. I eventually found a bookstore, Unity Books. It was really quite busy, busiest bookstore I’d seen in awhile. I went in wandered around, thinking I might find some interesting book to take home.
Just about the time I was glancing over the New Zealand history section, Glenn Miller came on the overhead stereo.
Why, hello, Mr. Miller! I welcomed the music, gladly, as I browsed.
I’m pretty sure I delayed leaving just so I could keep listening. I found a comic book island with both American and New Zealand comics. Most of New Zealand humor, I’ve found, is basically British/English. That works out well for me. Having not found anything to purchase, I left, tipping my hat to Mr. Miller (figuratively, not literally).
I found that Lambton turned into another street, Willis, and seeing some nice architecture down to my left, I turned onto Victoria.
Continuing straight, I saw a sign for “i-Site”, something I’d seen much off on brochures and google maps. I guess it’s the helpful people who tell you where to visit in New Zealand. This would be useful knowledge later when booking my Wellington Rover pick-up location. In the meantime, I noticed some more art further on ahead. I had made my way to the Civic Square, where many people were gathering and enjoying their sunny day.
Entering the square, I heard a voice singing. What he was singing, I do not know, but it was soft and sweet. I looked to my right and saw a man sitting on a grassy area wearing pink pants with oddly shaped hair cut holding birds while serenading them. I found this not unusual given the town I’m from and the weird people we have there. You all know what I’m talking about, don’t try to deny it.
The square seemed like a quiet place to sit, and relax. I however found it an opportunity to just take photos and people watch. It was crazy windy by now. I kept putting my hair up, taking it down, trying to fix my hat so it would stay. Half the time I had to hold my hat, hair, and take a photo all at once. Yay for multitasking!
I climbed up a group of steps to find some sculptures and random art at the top, overlooking the waterfront. Kids were climbing on some and playing tag, running around around them. Parents were chatting, teens were staring at their phones. I was taking more photos, and trying to be clever. I used to take such good photos, maybe some of that talent will come back one of these days.
There were more stairs on the other side, leading back down to the dock side. I saw even more people gathered on some steps, sun bathing and playing in the water. I’m used to sandy beaches, not cement steps to lay on. Wonder if I’ll see some actual sandy beaches around here instead of rock covered – not that I dislike rocks, I love rocks ( that reminds me, I hid some for Jay and Tiff by the bustop. I should get those…)
I sat down for a bit on the side, near some more shops. They were just closing up. I found a sign that said there was a Waterfront Market on the weekends from 10-4. I checked my phone, close to 4 now.
Groups of families and some other singular people were walking casually along the docks. Since I had no idea where it lead, I decided to follow them, I mean, why not? I had nothing better to do and I like finding new ways to go around town. As I followed the dock around, I passed some large buildings, another museum, a fine art academy and another park. On the sides of one of the buildings was a giant poster, the length the building. It listed about 20 or more things to do at the Waterfront, or in Wellington itself. I’d done a couple, but obviously not all. I didn’t stop to read it all either, I liked the walk.
Towards the end of dock side one, I heard some music. An old man in a red newsboy cap, blue bow tie, suspenders over a white shirt, and wrinkled tan pants was playing the accordion. It was a mix of oompa oompa and folk, and highly entertaining. I stood for awhile there, taking some photos and listening.
I didn’t have any change with me at the time, or else I would have left him some. I kept going down, and followed the waterfront to the end. When I reached the end of the docks, I came upon a familiar face.
Sorry, Grandma, I’m not going in. Ten bucks says it’s not vegetarian friendly.
I passed the Portofino, and went on down to the street intersection. I saw a familiar Parliament building a few blocks ahead. A bus stop was just near to that, and since it was nearly 5:30, I felt it was time to head home. My feet hurt a lot, and I wanted to stop at the store and get some food for dinner.
45 minutes of waiting at the bus stop allowed me to see a soccer team go in and out of a bar called “The Old Bailey’s”. It was across from where I was waiting. I think I’ve finally grown accustomed to my directions and the left side being the chosen driving side since I didn’t have to think twice about which side of the street to sit. The buses aren’t as frequent on the weekends, and it’s getting frustrating figuring out my day around their schedules.
As I hopped on the 81 back to Eastbourne, I knew I was going to have to get off just before Petone, so I could stop at the Pak ‘n Save. That’s the name of the closest grocery store, there’s another one called “New World”, I think. I could have done that before getting on the bus, but I didn’t realize that until I was ON the bus. Next time.
I followed a girl off at the stop across from the store. She had torn shorts, torn shirt, multiple piercings in her ears, and wore almost all wooden jewelry. I watched her run across the street and hop in a rundown beetle. I took the crosswalk here because, well it was RIGHT there.
Skipping the shopping experience to jump to my new bus stop friend. He had flat, sharply cut black hair, crooked teeth, and his accent was so strong I’m not sure what we actually talked about except the one part about the weather.
” Aren’t you hot? ” He asked, with big grin on his face.
“Nope, I’m used to this. ” I replied. I don’t like talking to people if I can help it, but, I couldn’t help it this time.
“Oh, where you from? Around the North?”
“Nope, California, the states. It’s like this… pretty much all the time. ” I said, gesturing to the shining sun above.
We exchanged some more random conversation until his bus to Naenae came. I waved good bye and kept waiting for my own, which would have me sit on the very back raised seat, behind some obviously gothic kids with even more piercings that the girl before. They whispered the whole time, and I’m fairly certain the girl kept pointing back at me with my groceries, like it was weird I had them.
What’s wrong with buying food ?? People tell me to do it all the time!