Paddling, and tree climbing and laser tag and bowling, oh my

I am settling into life in Wellington and have found plenty to keep myself busy so far. There is a beach about 10 minutes from my house and I have started paddling with an outrigger club there. I have already been out a couple of times and had the opportunity to race on Tuesday night (but turned it down since Tanya is arriving for a visit). I have also played laser tag and gone bowling with a Rover Crew.

As of Saturday morning I had absolutely no plans for Sunday other than to meet up with a Rover crew around 4pm for some laser tag. When I was out paddling on Saturday morning (it was a lovely sunny day with a bit of wind and some waves, but not too much) I found out some people were heading out on Sunday morning for a paddle, so I decided I might as well go out for my third paddle in 4 days (I had no other plans anyways). It was again a beautiful day on the water. After practice I was talking to two Americans (one has been here almost 3 years and the other has been in Wellington for a month). Since none of us had plans for the afternoon it was decided that we should do something together. So after a quick shower and change of clothes I was picked up and we headed through the tunnel to one of the Wellington suburbs for a grocery shopping trip to the Pac’n Save.

Shopping in the Pac’n Save was an experience. The store was very crowded and the aisles are so narrow that when one or two people stop with their carts to pick up an item or look at everything on the shelf, no body can get around them.

Having survived shopping and gotten some food for a picnic we then headed to the Botanical gardens for a picnic in the tree. At first I thought I had miss understood and they must be saying we were going for a picnic in the trees. When I asked, I was assured that I had understood correctly the first time, we were going for a picnic in THE TREE. We arrived at the gardens and the tree was pointed out to me. I had actually seen the tree the last weekend when I went for a walk through the gardens, but at that time didn’t realize that it could be climbed. We proceeded to stash our lunch items in our bags and scramble up the tree.

Amy climbing around the tree to our picnic spot once she reached the top.

As you can see the view from the top is quite nice. It has a much better view than from the rest of the gardens since you are now above the other trees that normally block the view.

Our picnic in progress in the tree. Amy is trying her first sip of L&P, standing for Lemon and Paeroa, pop that is apparently "World Famous in New Zealand".
Having looked at my pictures now, I realize that none of them show much of the tree itself. Next time I am in the area I will take a picture of the tree and post it, so you can truly appreciate what I am talking about, when I say we were sitting in the top of the tree.

After a lovely lunch and only a little spilled water (thankfully no one was directly below or they would have been a little wet), I had to climb down and head back to my flat. The botanical gardens are on the other side of the city than my flat, so I had a rather brisk walk with all my groceries to get home in time to be changed and ready for the Rovers who were picking me up for Laser Tag.

There were about 10 Rovers and we had a great time playing Laser Tag (amazingly I actually did alright at it). Then since we were there anyways, we decided to bowl. Somehow I managed to do okay the first game and beat quite a few people. (I should have quit bowling at this point.) By the time I got home, I was rather tired from the eventful day. Today, I felt the effects of the weekend in my legs as I walked to and from work. I will need to get in better shape, if this is any indication as to how my weekends will be in Wellington!