After an amazing sleep, I was in no rush to get up! Eventually I did and I went and got a shower. By the time I was finished there were two new people in my room. That shows you how long it takes me to shower. When I came in they were chatting away and I had no idea what language they were speaking. I thought it was German, but every now and then they would say something in English. I was basically running back and forth from the bathroom to the bedroom, brushing my teeth, putting my contacts in – all the fun things we girls get to do, so I didn’t really get to talk to them. Eventually when I was looking slightly presentable I was trying to find an outfit for the day, when I noticed the badge on one of the girl’s bags. A nice, big, red dragon. Wales. They were speaking Welsh. Being the socially challenged person I am I just blurted out “Oh my gosh, you’re from Wales, I had no idea what language you were speaking earlier because you kept saying a few words in English and I was trying to figure it out. Now it all makes sense.” (or something like that, I try to forget the stupid things I say – but Ffion, if you’re reading this, I talked to you first – saying hello doesn’t count – I definitely began conversation, haha)
After figuring out that they were from Wales we got chatting for a bit. The girls went into town and I headed down too, I wanted to have a dander about, to see what Wellington is like... I ended up walking for what felt like ages, trying to find an Esquires! I did find a Borders, which was so strange! I have only ever seen Borders in America. It makes sense that they’re in other place, but still, it was pretty weird. So I went in, had a look around and asked if they had Wifi, which they didn’t, but I did ask if they knew where Esquires was, which I felt a bit bad asking, especially as I asked the coffee shop man, but he was very helpful and he told me where to go. I had another look around Borders, which again, felt weird as I’ve only been in the Borders in Orem, Utah – the greatest place in the world. You’re probably trying to figure out if I’m being sarcastic or not – but honestly, I don’t even know. After leaving Borders I found Esquires and got my fav – caramel syrup with steamed milk. B-E-A-UTIFUL! Try it! It will make you day, if not your life, so much better. I was able to use the free internet, but it was pretty slow, so I only really checked Facebook and my emails. Nothing exciting.
After making one drink last an hour I left and walked back to the Hostel. Hayley and I were going to go out, but plans changed. I bumped into the Welsh girls (names will follow, be patient) and we all got talking back in the room. We realised that we didn’t actually know each other’s names, so one of the girls tried guessing mine. Who knew Gina would be so hard to guess! She guessed Xena and I told her it sounded like Xena, so she went through every letter until she came to G – Gina! Great Success! I then had to guess their names – which was pretty hard. I had clues – “they’re very Welsh names”, which really helped... nat. After some hints I found out their names – Ffion and Mererid. Yeah. Try saying those. I didn’t have much luck. Ffion is like Fiona without the a, but it sounds like Feeon and Mererid, well, I call her Mer.
Ffion and Mer were heading out and they asked me if I wanted to go too... I’m a very lazy person but eventually I decided that I would get ready and meet them downstairs in the Hostel bar – Basement (it was happy hour, so they were making the most of that). Once I was ready (and still looking rubbish – I hate curly hair. Fact.) I went down to the bar, had no idea how to get in so I started pushing the wall, because it looked like it could be a door. Turns out it wasn’t. There were stairs to my right, but I hadn’t seen them. A guy actually had to be like “excuse me, you get down by using the stairs”, I felt really smart. Oh wait, no, I felt like an idiot. I then got downstairs, couldn’t find the girls, came back upstairs and they found out the girls were in the bar, I had just missed them. At least when I went back down I knew to use the stairs! I walked around the bar for a bit, then found the girls. They were playing a drinking game – where you have to flick a box of matches over your drink and you get points according to how it landed. Intense. It was actually a lot of fun, chatting and having a laugh. I thought I took a lot of pictures – Mer and Ffion must have taken about a million pictures, each! And I look disgusting in all of them! I really can’t wait for the Facebook tags!
We then left the Basement bar and went across the road to a wee Welsh Pub. The building used to be a public toilet but then they changed it to a Pub! It was actually really cool, it felt like a pub back home! There was a guy playing songs on a guitar and there were people of all ages there! Was a bit like Jamaica Inn, not as epic, obviously, but the atmosphere was there! I was considering pretending to be Welsh, but nah, I became Irish for the night! Which didn’t go down too badly – it could have been worse – I could have been English! The bar owner was there and he got chatting to the girls – which was fine, but he was quite needy. A bit of an attention seeker, always coming up to us, saying things, telling jokes, all the usual – but he was a bit of a dude, so that was fine. I have a picture of him, so if I ever upload any pictures, I’ll stick one up! He also showed us a really cool trick, but I won’t say anything about it, because I want to use it at some point!
We were in the Welsh Pub for quite a while – they girls had signed the Welsh flag so I got a picture of that and they were looking through the visitors book (everyone in Wales knows everyone, or at least they did – Mer was taking about a million pictures because she knew everyone that had signed the book). Ffion also explained a lot to me about Wales – Welsh is actually their first language and Mer and Ffion both have the same second name, but Ffion uses her Farm name as a last name more than she uses her real last name because people know her by her Farm name. Wales is so cool. Like really. Totally awesome! I wish we had some really cool traditions like that! Northern Ireland has a lot of history, but I’m still jealous! Ffion and Mer spoke Welsh in School and at home, but they are fluent in English – I wish I could do that – they can speak Welsh to each other and it’s like a secret code language! It’s so cool! I’m such a geek.
After the Welsh Pub we went to a few other bars/clubs along Courtney Place (a main street) but there was nothing overly special! Something I found interesting – there were a lot of older people out! Like, in Bangor you get the odd old one, in Betty’s usually, but here there are a good few oldies out and about! There are the middle aged oldies, who are just business people out after work or whatever, so I can understand that. But then you get the parent aged people out. If my parents were out in Bangor, or even Belfast on a Friday night, I think I would die. I suppose older people do go out to clubs and bars, especially in the city – they probably go out in Belfast, but it was quite a shock for me to see so many! Most weren’t decrepit, but still, very strange!
Once we had been to a few bars we decided to head back to the Welsh Pub to meet a few of Ffion and Mer’s friends. They were three brothers, probably the first Kiwi’s I have met here and they were in Wellington for the Kings of Leon concert. Apparently the gig was really good. I really, really, really wanted to go! As I write this I’m listening to them – I think I might actually be in love with Caleb. Really. But anyway, the guys were all really nice so it was fun to meet them! The oldest brother is a farmer, like a real farmer. With a farm and everything. I have said it before and I will say it again. I should not be allowed in public. All night I was like “oh my gosh, I’ve always wanted to live on a farm, blah blah blah, I’m an idiot that doesn’t get out much, so I’m going to spend my Friday night hassling you about farming”. Janus, if you are reading this. I’m coming to EVERY Young Farmers event when I come home. I will marry a farmer. And Ryan Currie, if you’re reading this... watch out! Just kidding!
Eventually the Welsh Pub closed, so we moved on to our next destination. Some horrible fast food place that made really gross food, that was actually really nice. We then headed to Burger King and had an early morning snack there. Did you know that they have special night time meal deals over here? They do! It’s so strange – you can get a whole bunch of meal deals, kind of like in KFC (dirty bird) with their various sized buckets, but in Burger King. I will never understand it. But I’m not going to lie, I’m impressed. We then went to another place – one of the brothers works in this club, so it was technically closed, but he was able to get us in! There was a really horrible girl that worked there, she had a face like a busted sofa! haha! What a phrase! But really, she was a grumpy cow, she wasn’t going to let us in, but the guys were like, there with us, so she let us in. Jerk. She wasn’t going to get Mer and Ffion drinks, but some other nice chap did! So we stayed there for a bit, had a chat, had a laugh, I hassled the men about farming some more and then it was time to leave! It was getting quite late I suppose... It was after 5.00 A.M!
When we left the club we said our goodbyes to the guys, I did get an invite to the farm, but I probably won’t take them up on it – I hate imposing on people and I’m afraid that my fascination with farms might turn into an obsession if I go! I sound like a real idiot, I do actually have a life, I don’t think about farms all day, even if it seems like I do! Then we walked back to the Hostel – we didn’t get back to our room until 5.30! Yikes! Especially since we have a roomie! We were worried about waking her up, but as Ffion walked through the door she was getting ready to go to work! All that poor girl does is work! She will get back from work at 11.30pm, go to sleep, then get up and go to work at 6.00am! It makes me feel even lazier! Getting into bed was quite funny, as soon as we came in Mer and Ffion got into bed and I was trying to find a few things, Ffion kept going “Shh”, “What do you do if someone says Shh?”, “Is it rude to say Shh?”. Then of course I have to do the, getting cosy routine. Basically I get into bed and then get cosy. I scootch around for a bit, moving the duvet about, trying to get comfy, I don’t mind the process, but it shakes the entire bunk, which is probably not the nicest for the person on top!
I fell asleep pretty quickly, it was a tiring day – walking all around town during the day and then again at night and let’s not forget about the excitement of meeting some real life farmers! I love when you have unexpected good nights! I wasn’t even going to go out, but I’m so glad I did! That’s always how the best nights start!
xx
P.S. Do you know what the Title of this Blog says? It says, I love Wales (and Farming). Well, that's an internet translation, so it could be something else entirely!
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