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Fenny and I on our last day in Wellington went to Upper Hutt to meet with Swee for Yum Char. While we were waiting in the train station, a man walked up to us and said: "Pardon. I don't mean to be rude..." and looked at us. We looked back at him. Then he said: "I'm sorry. I don't mean to be rude," and walked away. Fenny and I didn't know what he was talking about. This picture was taken slightly before the incident. The Yum Char was very tasty and delicious. We talked at length about New Zealand and Fenny and myself and our plans for the trip around New Zealand we were about to embark upon. We spent the morning making lunch, packing our gear, and in general getting ready for our semi-long bus ride to Napier from Wellington. Fenny made peanut-butter sandwiches, and we posed with our over-huge backpacks so we could remember how large they were. The tent you see attached to my backpack was never used. We discovered later that we had enough money not to need to camp out, so we stayed the entire North Island part of our journey in various backpackers. Fenny took pictures with the disposable camera that my co-workers at Datacom got me for my going-away gift. We arrived in Napier and checked into the first backpacker hostel either of us had ever stayed in. It was called the Criterion Art Deco Hotel or something like that. It was a very nice place with a big, clean kitchen, huge sitting room, pool table, laundry, and a host of other useful bits. We got our list of places to stay from the BBH guide. The budget backpackers hostel guide. It lists various places to stay, what cities they're in, how far from town center, and a percentage rating as given to it by people who'd stayed there. The Criterion got an 81% rating, and was a very nice place to stay. The hosts were friendly, and the facilities great. As we were to learn later on the trip, not every place listed in the BBH guide is great, and some are downright deceitful with their listings, and the percentage can be a little wierd. Fenny and I wandered down to the beach and a little expo-type place about 200 metres from the Criterion. Here we are. Fenny and I had a wander down through Napier's shopping area, which Criterion was located right at the end of. We found a park at the end with various cute ornaments and a fountain, and took a few pictures. There was a little bird taking a bath in the fountain, so I stopped to get a few pictures. The birds in New Zealand seem overall a little more paranoid than the ones in San Francisco. I guess they don't see as many people. This was our room at the Criterion. It looks very red because my camera couldn't correct for the very incandescent lights. It was a fairly nice, small room. This was the view from our room at Criterion. It was quite nice, as you can see. These are shots taken as the sun was going down. There is still some daylight... More interior and exterior shots of our room at the Criterion. |
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