On to Oz

Nov23

We took our time around Wellington. We viewed a traveling exhibit on Leonardo Da Vinci's machines, the Parliment grounds, and the Weta cave, where Weta workshop is set up to receive tourists. We also saw Old St Paul's, a totally wooden structure church from the 1800's, famous for its stained glass. Rob has uploaded some pics, I think.

Nov 24& 25

We had a tour of the inside of the NZ Parliment, and stopped along a beach to look around. The wind was gusting fast enough to knock us off our feet! We had lunch at "The Backbencher" a pub across from the government buildings, where each dish was named for a politician. Then we ran for the airport, and boarded the 4 hr flight to Brisbane. One of the inflight movies was "Black Sheep", one of the corniest horror movies ever! Aparently, it's a kiwi cult classic. After an uneventful flight, we landed in a hot country (28oC)! We picked up our car and a new mobile phone, and headed for our hotel. It was a Best Western, which we have gift cards for- but it was the cheapest looking expensive place I've ever stayed! For haf the price, we booked the next three nights at a backpacker hostel, called simply "Bunk". It's not bad, but it makes me feel a little old at the moment. The majority of people here are late teens and early 20's, and heavily into drinking and partying. Definitely NOT my scene. At least our room is quiet, and we have a private bathroom. And the other neat thing is that you have no idea what language you might hear around you next. People for all over the world are here!
We viewed a few places to rent, and one of them definitely stood out. It is designated a heritage building, and has beautiful plaster mouldings, antique doorknobs and 10 ft ceilings. And they will allow me to have a cat! We put in an application, and wait for approval. In the evening, we went to the movies and saw the new Bond movie, Quantum of Solace. A very enjoyable evening. What is strange is that alcohol is everywhere, and many people took martinis into the theatre!

Nov 26
We found out that we are approved for the place!! So, the mailing address will be #2, 9 MacLauchlan Street, Fortitude Valley, QLD, Australia 4006.  We viewed 2 other places today as well, and one didn't allow pets, and the other had holes in the floor and hordes of ants roaming the place.  I think I'll stick with what we've got.  Thanks God!
We also began looking at furniture, and found the Brisbane Ikea.  Same stuff!  We are going to have to do some serious measuring, though, because this place is tiny!