Misery guts

I’m starting to wonder whether Wellington, despite its capital city status and vast number of restaurants and cafes, might just be Tonbridge/Tunbridge Wells in disguise. Sometimes it just really has the whiff of town life about it. I’m still trying to figure out exactly what people do here for fun – I think they all join sports teams or do gardening. I don’t know whether to be depressed or just stop giving a toss.

It’s almost like Wellington has all of the elements of a city – bars, restaurants, clubs, loads of shops, different areas, parks, beaches, galleries & museums, universities, even parliament – but doesn’t quite have the buzz or attitude of a city. I can’t figure out quite why, but when I do I’ll let you know…one theory is that there are just far too many families in Wellington, not that I’m quite sure how that makes a difference. I suppose it might mean that people are just a bit too sensible/responsible to concoct the city ambience I am used to, a sort of disaffected self-gratification where responsibility and kids come with a move out to the ‘burbs. Mostly I find myself complaining about ugly boy racer cars & lack of a decent salad bar, rather than trying to cycle home after 2 for 1 pizza and happy hour wine. What a grumpy bastard, huh?

I don’t think it is Wellington or New Zealand that is at fault – I am still sometimes quite taken aback by just how lovely it is here – but my acclimatisation is taking a lot longer than I thought. I may have been grouchy when I was in London, I just didn’t realise I was a grouchy Londoner. At least the sun is shining & spring is on its way. I did plant a blueberry bush & some strawberry plants in the front garden, Gert discovered the joys of sunbathing on the front doorstep and I am seriously thinking of building a seat/bench out the front so I can sit & stare at people walking by.

Jo & I were meant to be going to a party on Saturday night, but the person who invited us failed to get in touch to let us know where & when, so we just went for Chinese and came home instead. That was actually okay because I got to check out a place I’d wanted to go to for ages, but burnt the holy crap out of my tongue on some “sizzling pork”, which was so “sizzling” the waitress had to shield herself from it with a tea towel. And, yes, I did mutter something about how if I was in the USA I could probably sue the restaurant – Jo just looked at me like I was a little stupid and re-iterated the danger of shoving a chopstick-full of something that blatantly scorchingly hot into your gob.

BUT…we did go for a really nice 4 hour dog walk on Saturday down to Houghton Bay, around the coast and back up through Island Bay, picking out all the houses we’d like to buy along the way (there are loads of really nice houses in Wellington). On the downside I had an allergic reaction to Nivea SPF 15 moisturiser that made the whole area around my eyes go red puffy & scaly (yum). And last weekend we had a really nice relaxing weekend at the beach (we were the only members of the Tarleton family at the beach house), so really things are pretty good. I think I just have that Monday feeling. Or I need a hobby.

Plus, Ann brought back a large bottle of Finlandia cranberry vodka for us from her trip to Fiji & we bought lots of good food at the supermarket yesterday, so I am planning a bit of a feast tonight. Hooray for me.

Apparently it’s Spring…and I’m working in an office…

This was not part of the master plan. So, up I get this morning, look out the window and its beautiful & sunny, put on some nice Spring-like clothes, step outside and…freeze my arse off. As I am still learner driver, Jo & I have been driving to and from work (which has done wonders for my driving, apart from the day when we gave a colleague of Jo’s a lift home and I flaunted my skills by attempting a hill start whilst still in 2nd gear), so I only had to scamper from the house to the car, and then to the office from the car, but I still like an 18 year old sacrificing comfort for fashion. I wouldn’t mind if I actually was 18 and actually looked cool, but I’m fairly sure I fall short on both counts.

To compensate for being exposed to cold air for at least 5 minutes, I scampered into one of the 3 coffee bars that inhabit the 50m or so long block that my office sits on (this is not allowing for coffee shops/cafes along side roads – there really are a ridiculous number of them) and purchased a coffee made by a gentleman who is (according to a magazine I was reading yesterday) the best coffee barista in the whole North Island. He won a competition & everything. Not that I could tell from the coffee – it tasted okay, but didn’t blow my socks off – so I’m not sure how they judge these things. And then I went to work….only another 6 weeks to go ‘til the end of my contract.

I was thinking the other day that some of you may have the impression that I don’t like working. I’d like to challenge that. You see, it’s not that I don’t like working; it’s more that I resent spending 5 days a week being bored out of my skull (despite the financial benefits). Hopefully, my masters proves that I am not afraid to work, but I think I do have to try to find a job/role where I don’t feel the urge to go home after an hour or so. And yes, I know a lot of jobs are boring – it’s just that I don’t happen to feel obliged to resign myself to that for the next 20 - 30 years. However, there is one intriguing element to my current job. I am sitting at a desk that looks out over some car parking spaces (much like at Savile Row) and the traffic wardens here have a nifty trick of carrying different coloured chalk around with them that they use to mark the tyres of parked cars, so they can just tell by the chalk marks how long a car has been parked somewhere, sneaky…though it has been pointed out to me that you can just rub the chalk off and confuse the hell out of them.