Much to Matt’s dismay, I am not really good at keeping to a schedule or to a plan. I might suggest today that tomorrow we go for a walk. But when tomorrow arrives, I have a completely different plan in mind.
This weekend we were supposed to go to a movie (yikes, I have not been in a movie theater in years) and to dinner at a fancy restaurant. But on Saturday, after much hemming and hawing on my part, I said forget it, let’s go shopping in Newtown and see where we get. Newtown is the part of Wellington where mostly students and immigrants live. The streets are packed with funky and fun stores and restaurants of every variety. Concert posters are pasted on lamp posts and panhandlers dot the sidewalks.
I had a list of a few Middle Eastern stores I wanted to visit and naturally I had to stop at Mediterranean Foods, the Italian food store. In the Middle Eastern stores, I stocked up on some Greek spinach and feta triangles, some dates from Palestine, Indian curry powder, and pomegranate molasses. At the Italian store, I bought everything that looked good including some Italian wine. We stopped at a self-proclaimed anarchist bookstore where I bought some pins.
As we wandered by an Indian restaurant called Curry Heaven, we examined their menu very closely and decided that, in fact, this would be heaven if they could pull it off. We ordered too much food to go and went on our way home where we stuffed ourselves with curries and dal. It was heaven. The curries were spicy but not too, and there were deep complex flavors of curry, coconut and almonds. The dal makhani was glorious with black lentils in a rich sauce also spicy but not too. We are sure to return.
The next day we aimed to drive to Castlepoint, a light house on the furthest point on the east coast of the North Island. According to the car map, the trip would take two hours. Yeah. No. The only road out of Wellington led into the mountains and over Remutaka Pass.
It was a harrowing road, with about 20 miles of winding curves, carved along the edge of the mountain. Being the only road over the mountain, traffic was heavy, making it even scarier. But it was worth it because on the other side of the mountain we drove into The Wairarapa, a rural area to the east, where we found quaint small towns including the quaintest town in New Zealand, Greytown. It really is a place you want to stop and walk, with lots of Victorian style homes and storefronts with gingerbread trims, spindles, and finials galore.
We happened upon the last day of the Greytown Christmas festival. Yes, Christmas in July. Remember, it is winter here. In New Zealand and the southern hemisphere in general, Christmas in December means it is at the height of summer. To fend off the boredom of winter and to use winter to actually enjoy a cold Christmas, some places celebrate Christmas in July as well. We played along and bought a few Christmas ornaments. We stopped in the local bookstore and bought too many books that were put in a bag that said, “I might just keep these for myself.” Amen.
We never did make it to Castlepoint. The car’s prediction of two hours was completely inaccurate. It will surely take the entire day to get there and back. Next time, we will go early and plan on stopping at Greytown again.
A Yank Among the Kiwis 