Windy Wellington

**This should have been published a year and a half ago but well.. better late than never.

My latest travels took me to a city on the far corner of the earth - 'Windy' Wellington! Strikingly I found Wellington to be a tiny city given that it sits on the pedestal of being the capital of New Zealand. At first glance everything about Wellington seemed small, a tiny little airport next to the sea, practically no skyscrapers, beautifully laid out small portions of suburbs. it seemed as if I had landed in a country town rather than the power house of NZ politics. A casual conversation with the cab driver lead me to the revelation that Wellington sits on top of one of the most active seismic belts in the country 'The Wellington Fault' (I made a mental note to Google it up when I was settled in my hotel room). This was probably one of the primary reasons Wellington appeared leveled.

First thing that one notices (I did) about Wellington was not it's size or the buildings or the terrain; It was the wind, the relentless never stopping wind blowing. Wellington has the crown of being one of the windiest cities in the world aka the name 'Windy Wellington' with

A quick 15 minute drive from the airport was all it took for me to reach my hotel. With work still a day away and having done 22 hrs of air travel, I was ready to give in to sleep but anxiety to explore the city took the better of me and I went out in the afternoon sun exploring the city. Wellington is on the south western tip of north island of NZ and sports a natural (needless to say a beautiful) port. My hotel was right in the CBD area so exploring the Wellington's compact city centre wasn't difficult. Right outside my hotel's doorstep was the office of NZ's Telecom giant whom I was going to work for. Few steps further was Courtney Place, the heart of Wellington's eating joints. There was an array of restaurants, café culture, pubs and clubs along both sides of the road with a few international chains I could recognize. This gave me a sense of pleasure and eased off my tension about food - I could actually survive without cooking for a while! Around the same area I was quick to find the supermarket 'New World' the heart of Wellington's grocery / confectionery shopping.

Heading further down the road was the best sight ever. blue waters of the pacific meeting land for kilometers. I must stop here and appreciate the Wellington civic authorities to have created a beautiful joggers/cycling trek right next to the sea that extended for kilometers at a stretch. I imagined myself running right there every evening after work with my feet in sync with nu metal or alternative rock my ipod. (I do-do this. Just not as regularly as I had imagined the first day :) )

The day was perfect. Evening was approaching, the sun on the horizon with evening rays giving the slightest of the warmth against the cool breeze of approaching from the sea. There were people jogging/walking/cycling/skating all around me, I spoke to no one but I didn't feel lonely. Leisurely I walked back to my hotel, had some dinner of rice and ready to eat veggies that I got as backup from India and then crashed on my bed for a new start tomorrow.

Windy Welly!