Hungry for a change of scenery and weather from chilly Dunedin, I decided to spend a weekend visiting a friend who is studying in Wellington, New Zealand’s capital city located on the north Island. The first thing I noticed about Wellington was the humidity; the air felt damp and the plants carried a heavy aroma of fresh rain and earth. It reminded me of a tropical jungle- my kind of place. I instantly fell in love!
During my first few days, I spent my time enjoying the Wellington Botanic Garden, a sprawling 61 acre garden teeming with lush local flora, and The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, which is the national museum and art gallery of New Zealand. I strongly recommend visiting the Gallipoli exhibit, which portrays the WWI history through the perspective of your average New Zealand soldiers; it was both an interesting and haunting experience that I could not easily forget.
During my last two days in Wellington, my friends and I spent our time on the famous Cuba street, where there was a festival called “Cuba Dupa” going on. I’m still not too sure what the theme of this festival exactly was, my friends and I jokingly labelled it as “miscellaneous”. Organized groups of people paraded about dressed in varying themes that went from Victorian-age costumes to scantily-clad fire dancers who were dancing, playing music, and providing all sorts of entertainment. I even saw my first professional yo-yo performance- yup, absolute madness. For me, the food was definitely the main event.The entire street was filled with food stands serving cuisine from all over the world- it was impossible to pick just one!
