Hello again friends!

After a decent sleep the weather was much nicer this morning. It would seem the rain has passed and we were making our way to the nation’s capital – Wellington. Unfortunately Wellington is a 5 hours drive from Taupo so we had to leave early. As we were leaving Taupo we drove past Mount Doom so of course we had to stop and have a look. We were so far away from it but it was still magnificent. The photo here does not do it justice at all.

(Mt Doom photo)

We had one stop planned along the way which turned out to not really be much of a stop. After a few hours we arrived at a town called Bulls (strange name – we know!). The reason we stopped here is because of the town’s use of puns in relation to their name. FOr instance if you’re looking for a toilet the sign reads “Relieve-a-Bull” and the police station is “const-a-bull”. We laughed for about one second and stopped at the local pub called the Rangitikei Tavern (No – they don’t use a Bull pun) to have lunch. This was by far the worst meal we have had here. It was deep fried nonsense just like you’d get at any canteen. Really underwhelming. In hindsight this was a pretty dumb stop. We could’ve seen the signs as we drove through for our mild laugh. 

(Bulls tavern photo)

We arrived in Wellington and checked into our Airbnb. It is very well located – just up the road from the very popular Cuba street. The place is a bit old but it will definitely suit our needs. We took a stroll down Cuba street and watched some street performers. Cuba street is one of those streets that cars can’t drive down (kind of like Pitt Street Mall in Sydney). It is a really happening place. We got down to the harbour and looked at the ocean. They have this cool platform/staircase that the Wellington council built for people to jump into the water from (since people were doing it from the pier anyway!). Lorant and Ronnie ended up giving it a go. It is cold and salty! 

Staircase photo

After that we went back to the Airbnb to shower and get changed before heading back down Cuba street. We decided to check out the night markets which again were quite cool. They had live music, street performers, food stalls and lots of hustle bustle that created a really fun and happening vibe. We walked down Cuba street and saw a really cool looking bar with a very fun vibe to it. It was called Scotty and Mal’s cocktail bar. We ordered some cool cocktails and hung out for a while. 

Cocktails photo

As the bar started to fill up, the vibe seemed to get cooler and cooler. After another few drinks we finally noticed that Scotty and Mal’s cocktail bar was actually a gay bar. It was our first gay bar experience and it was good. The cocktails and the decor was beautiful and the service was excellent. Couldn’t fault it. Feeling buzzed we decided to head out to a restaurant for more drinks and some food. 

Cuba Street photo

We ended up at a place called The Flying Burrito Bros which looked like (and turned out to be) a great vibe. It was a very trendy Mexican restaurant. We ordered some very cool and delicious margaritas and some delicious food. Ronnie ordered a triple stack of Tacos which he loved and Aimee ordered the Mole Blanco which is a chicken enchilada which has mole (Pronounced: Mo-lay) that is a chocolate/chilli sauce which was different for her but went down a treat.

That capped off what was a really chill and really great night. Cuba street is fantastic.

Much Love,

Ronnie & Aimee.