New Zealand 20/20 trip: Day 11 Wellington Archival fun

By the numbers

7.51kms

9,949 steps

I had my day mapped out as I wanted to spend the day in the National Archives hoping that they would not be shut because of the virus that is going around. I would never know if they had shut on short notice. I had made the correct choice by staying in a private room in the hostel, even though I do not like them much. I prefer the YHA, but they were booked out. I had some bad experiences where I am staying with the hostel rooms especially after the room tango last time. This time I made sure that would not happen.

I soon learnt that Maccas downstairs doesn’t have coffee. They have tea, but not coffee, which is weird. When I sat down, I got a message from the archives in Palmerston North asking if I was still coming and I quickly replied that I would not be  and the guy said his leave had been cancelled too. I ate my breaky and was then off to the archives, where I did get my coffee. I could have gotten a full breakfast there too as they have changed since I was in Wellington last. I had some files ordered already for me to pick up. I had to fill out a form giving my address and phone number due to the virus just in case someone was infected and you needed to be contacted. I grabbed the records I wanted and started taking photos. I spent all day in the archives only moving to the desk to get more records I had ordered, or to the loo. I left around 430pm as I felt I had done all I wanted to do. When I did transfer my photos over to a hard drive, I found I had 1888 files, so that was an effort in itself.

I grabbed food on the way back to my room and watched a little bit of TV and a shower before going out for a walk before it became too dark. I took a wander around parts of the shorefront and nearly missed a ship that was camouflaged with artwork. There was a big hand on top of the art gallery that I knew about and I ended up at a Cuba street bookshop before turning around and heading back to the hostel. I didn’t buy anything as all the shops were closing or had already closed. I asked about a travel card for Wellington and found the shop I thought sold them, didn’t. Luckily I hadn’t gone near the trains as they were having issues when I was on my way back as some were delayed. Once I returned, I sorted out the last of my bus tickets by cancelling the journeys, which puts me in line for being ready to fly home without too much dramas. I learnt Australia and New Zealand both had shut their borders, but I would be allowed to return home on Sunday, which is good news for me.