from best hostel to worst new years... boo!

So we decided long ago to come back to Wellington for New Years - why? Because its their capital and they are bound to have fireworks - I mean, come on. Well, if you were on the same page as us you would be wrong as well...

We ended up staying 45 minutes north of Wellington because parking down there is chaotic... so we took the train in on New Years Eve and spent our time walking around, checking out their fabulous (and free!) museum and then ended up going to a movie to kill some time... Bedtime Stories with Adam Sandler... pretty cute - predictable - but a lighthearted way to end 2008. Anyway - after the movie we grabbed dinner and then went to this ice cream place we had been once before... yum! At this time it's about 10PM - T minus 2 hours and counting.

From ice cream we made our way down to the Civic Hall park for live music and what we expected and anticipated- a fireworks show. At this point it's raining and windy and cloudy and cold. We asked the security guards where the fireworks would be shot off from and he replied "Fireworks? There won't be fireworks. At least they've never done them in the past and I haven't heard anything different for this year." GRRRR. So at about 11PM we hopped on our train to go home because it was freaking freezing and raining and there were all these little 18 year olds wearing way too much make-up with way too little clothing everywhere we looked. Boo! So, we were on the train/getting off the train come midnight - Happy New Year! Silly Wellington - the CAPITAL of New Zealand - and no fireworks...

BUT - they do have the nicest Burger King we've ever seen... so I guess that makes up for it, right?