Wellington – Friends, Football, and Facial Hair

We arrived safe and sound in Wellington at 5pm… to our surprise the city was packed and it was almost impossible to book a hostel for the night as David Beckman was in town with the LA Galaxy for a football match. Luckily, two beds opened up at the Cambridge Hotel & Backpackers… the 5 start hostel! Since the hotel was booked sold, we ended up in a bunk room for 6… and were immediately greeted by our other 4 flat mates. Quickly showering and headed out for a night out on the town. First stop was dinner at a trendy restaurant Zibebo with Alison’s friend Bobbie from grad school. Later we met up with Nick, her boyfriend, for another drink at a local pub.

We said our goodbyes for the evening and jumped over to our third stop at Matterhorn to meet Jaclyn’s friend Kat and Matt and their friends, all from Wellington. One Martini, Two Martini, Three Martini… we’re on the dance floor!!!! At this point we had ventured to two other places with the last stop at an “underground” trendy hotspot that no tourist had ever been before. We had VIP all the way care of Kat’s friend James as we danced the night away to the DJ spinning tunes mixing up American 80’s and New Zealand rock. As the clock struck 3am, it was definitely time to head back or some might consider it a stumble to the hostel. To our surprise someone was sleeping in Melanie’s bed!!! After making a “small” scene, we passed out gracefully.
The next morning, we had an American feast before heading up into the hills of the city to drop off our bags at Bobbie and Nick’s flat (thanks guys for letting us crash… come visit us in Bean town anytime!). Let’s just say the views are absolutely incredible… we toured the city on foot, hangovers and all… walked the waterfront, shopped around Cuban Street, ate some Turkish cuisine, and ended the afternoon cruising the city in Kat’s convertible. Hats off to Kat for showing us a great time in Wellington!

The Beckham buzz around town was too much to pass up so we jumped on the bandwagon along with 31,231 other Kiwi’s to watch the game live! This was record breaking attendance for a football game in New Zealand… we got great seats and were only yards away from when Beckham ripped one into the back of the net for a penalty shot. Although LA Galaxy won 4 to 1 against the Wellington Phoenix it was still a great game and the crowd was going crazy. And we were giddy school girls cheering Becks on.... as we felt it only right to cheer for the American team (okay, it might be an excuse but it is good one don’t you think?!?!).

Our Wellington experience was wicked. We can help but love how the city has its own style – the only way to describe it is indie rock meets skater – skinny jeans, leggings, funky hair styles, skate boards, crazy hats, large sunglasses, and to top it all off the most amazing mustaches we have ever seen!!! Come to find out November was mustache month and helped to raise money for Children’s Cancer. But still… they were crazy! Oh yeah, and how could we forget… the city’s location is absolutely beautiful located in the valley on the mountains on bluest harbor you have ever seen!
Now we’re off to Auckland early in the morning… our last destination in New Zealand.