Top 5 cafes

In honor of this being our last week on campus in Wellington, I thought I would do a week of themed posts!  5 days of 5 things.  I thought this might help me as I begin to process the past two years and be able to look forward.  So here we go...today I will share, my top 5 favorite cafes in Wellington.  That's an easy one :)

1.  Butler's Cafe: Free chocolate with every coffee.  And very close to our flat!

 2.  VicBooks - People's Coffee:  Best coffee on campus by far.  I don't know what they do, but it is amazing.  And everything is organic and fair trade!  Unfortunately I don't have any photos, which is a bummer.

3.  Chocolate Cafe in Days Bay: You can't beat the atmosphere or the view.  Right across the harbor from Wellington, only 20 minutes drive.  But you feel like you're on vacation, it's my little escape from the city.

4.  Karawaka: On a beautiful day, this is where I want to be.  It's right on the waterfront and they have great fries.  You can pick a seat on the grass and watch the people go by and the rowers practice in the harbor.

5.  Matterhorn:  They always have a fire lit and it's nice and warm and cozy.  In the winter I can't wait to go here.  It's one of the first cafes I ever went to in Wellington, so maybe I'm a little sentimental :)

All Blacks

The night before we went to Australia we went to the All Blacks game!  It's the first we've been to, and only the second time they've played in Wellington since we moved here.  Now that we are rugby fans, ha, it was really fun!

It was a typical Wellington day, and we were glad to have seats under the roof to block us from the rain.  Actually, the rain would come in, and swirl around the whole stadium.  So you would actually get hit on the side of your face all the time.  It was really odd.

And then, right after half time, the power in the whole stadium went out!  So, that was exciting.  They played a ton of songs about 'the lights going out'. 

Anyway, it was a lot of fun and I'm so glad we got to go!

Insta-Friday

 Surprise surprise, but I really enjoy Instagram!  So, I thought I would share some photos from the week...

 Curry and Bollywood night at Zoe's

 Sunday afternoon in the city

Short trip out to Scorching Bay

 Max and Cherie were over for dinner - and Max takes awkward photos

Team dinner - all you can eat ribs!

 Leigh's rib pile

 A large platter of ribs!

 Date night to see a play

And milkshakes afterwards!

the ballet

A few weeks ago we had a little staff women hang-out at the ballet!  I love the ballet, and I was thankful to have some ladies that were up for going!

Before the ballet, we enjoyed delicious Italian pizzas at Pizzeria Napoli.

The show of the night was Cinderella - seriously, does it get any girlier than that??

Thanks ladies for a fun night.

Makara Bay

I mentioned that we had fantastic weather on Easter, and we actually had great weather all weekend. On Easter Monday, it was relatively clear and warm so Ryan and I decided to go to Makara Beach which overlooks the Tasman Sea. After a very crazy drive, in which I almost got sick going around all of those turns, we arrived!

 
It was a bit windy, but still a beautiful view of the Tasman.





Happy Easter weekend!

un cafe

It has always been a dream of mine to work at a coffee shop and learn how to make coffee. And, let's be honest, I just love coffee :) There is a cafe at our church, in true Wellington style, and I have been a part of the team. And I've learned to make coffee! Not from a coffee machine, but real espresso coffees. It is fun, and the other day I made myself a moccha, start to finish!


My mom mentioned on skype today that if I can't find a job when we move back, I am now qualified (maybe) to work at Starbucks. And to be honest, that makes me pretty happy. I've always loved the idea of working at a coffee shop. Although I'm sure my little coffee shop bubble would burst the first time I had to show up for a 4:30am shift.

Anyway, that's one thing to check off the life to-do list!

Around the Bays

Ryan has been a little running machine as of late. He ran his first New Zealand half marathon recently (AMI Around the Bays), and did great!

It was such a beautiful morning on the waterfront as we waited for the race to begin. They honestly couldn't have had a better day for a race.
Here he is, ready to go. Ryan was so thoughtful and wore bright yellow so I would be able to pick him out of the crowd - only, a lot of people thought the same thing. Yellow was very popular!

And the starting line:

And the end, way to go!

He's already training for his next race, so watch out NZ...

a date

There was a new, famous, highly sought after restaurant that opened up the coast. We decided to make the afternoon of it, and check it out.

A few of the Christmas trees are still in bloom, which is a treat, since most were finished blooming by the time we got back from Thailand.

We took the train up the coast.

All the way to Paraparaumu.

To have....Wendy's! Ha, this is a new thing in Wellington, and it's very exciting!

Chili, fries, burgers, chicken...and a frosty of course!

So delicious. And the sunset on the train ride home was beautiful.


Yes, I realize this is the second time I've posted about going to Wendy's in less than a year. We aren't even big fast-food people, but you've got to embrace the little things :) Another little piece of America right here in Wellington.

Martinborough

One of our last activities with the Sawries, was to head out to Martinborough for a little wine tasting! It was such a beautiful day, and I got sun burnt for the first time all year!

Happy Guy Fawkes Day!

I have never heard of Guy Fawkes before, but apparently he is a guy worth celebrating! Everyone shoots off fireworks, and there was a big show down on the waterfront.

Here is what I have learned about Guy Fawkes: Guy Fawkes (13 April 1570 – 31 January 1606) was an English soldier and a member of a group of Roman Catholic conspirators who attempted to carry out the Gunpowder Plot to assassinate King James I of England (James VI of Scotland) and the members of both houses of the Parliament of England with a huge explosion, which was prevented by his arrest on 5 November 1605.

And because there was a huge explosion, now it is celebrated every year with fireworks. Crazy!

A whole new set of holidays to learn about :)

Carlucci Land

So, there's a putt-putt course in town made entirely of rubbish. Ryan has been eying this place since we arrived!

They take metal from the nearby landfill and turn it into art. Pretty amazing actually.



Ha, it's a bug!

milkshakes

After our last FUSE meeting with students, we headed down to Fidels for milkshakes!

Seriously they are huge! And I felt very sick afterward :)

NZSO

This weekend Ryan's men's group decided to take their wives out to the Symphony!


One of the soloists is in Ryan's group, so that's why we chose that particular show. Our seats were neat, right behind the orchestra. It was lovely, and made for a great, and cultured, Saturday afternoon :)