After that we headed up to the top of Mt. Victoria. This is the 'mountain' I posted about that holds my favorite view in Wellington - looking toward it and seeing the church. But, from the photo below this is the view you get from the top of it (and the church is just below on the hillside). It was a crystal clear night so we were able to see the whole city lit up which was pretty nice!! As well as all the stars in the sky. It was beautiful.
After the viewpoint, Fi and Sam wanted to induct me into the 'darn good bread' club. Which... well, if bread is in the clubs name, I'm usually game for! So we drove about 5 minutes away and came to a bakery that stays open 24 hours on the weekends. Its apparently famous for late night (post bar) bakery good binges. The club started when Sam and a few of his buddies wanted to change scenery from being at a party, the wondered down the street to find that this bakery was open and went to get some grub. As I picture it, I assume these gentlemen drunkingly stumbled into the bakery and got their loaves and all repeated that it was 'darn good bread'. Thus, the club was born. And now, I am a proud member!
Saturday I tried to sleep in for my day off but woke up WIDE AWAKE at 7:15... I guess it is a bit of a sleep in compared to the normal 7am wake up call. Fiona had a netball game in the morning so we went to watch that. It's quiet a different sport, and this league plays outside so they had to deal with wind and rain!! After that Sam had to swing by his parents place... and since we had been talking about it for a few weeks, he offered for me to drive home!! Yikes!! Wrong side of the road, AND the car is a stick shift... which is also on the wrong side!!
Luckily, I made it all the way home with no harm to the car or any people. I did have a close call with a parked car because I wasn't paying attention to the left side of my car and how close it was getting to the parked ones. And, I didn't stall the whole way! I hadn't driven a stick in a few years so I was worried about that, but managed!!
Saturday night the All-Blacks (New Zealand's national rugby team) played the rugby team from Ireland here in Wellington. We didn't get tickets but we did go downtown to The Loaded Hog to watch the game. Sam drove me in, with his friend John and Fi had a netball party to go to so she missed out.
I'm really enjoying the sport of Rugby. It's very cool how into it everyone gets down here. There really isn't the same attitude toward sports that we have at home - Friday night high school football games, March Madness, etc - but for Rugby they definitely get passionate!! But I think the best part of watching the game was at the beginning, the team does a 'Haka'. It's pretty much a traditional war dance from the Maori but the All-Blacks, plus various other teams have taken it on. The team groups up and stands at about mid-field, while facing their opposing team and do this dance... which, dance isn't the best word for it. I'll attach a link to a couple of the video's I found on You Tube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Zvs4T4RU30 This is just of the All-Blacks
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eGCsEQ15L4 All Blacks vs. Tonga which is a team that also has a Haka and does theirs at the same time which looks very cool!!
Most of the opposing teams just stand about 10 meters away and watch, showing their respect. But a few teams have kept warming up, or just ignoring the All Blacks. But a few years ago ballsy England decided to walk arm in arm straight up to NZ and stand about 10 inches away from the first guy.... I'm trying to find it on You Tube but haven't been successful yet!!
If you have the time, I suggest watching the videos and trying to imagine Matt Hasselbeck doing this!
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