So what have I been doing?
Then I went off to the Opera House, where I saw the cast of the Midsummer Night's Dream ballet rehearsing. It was absolutely mesmerizing to watch. The choreographer would give small corrections, and the entire mood of the dance would immediately change. The ballerinas are just insanely talented, but it was particularly interesting to see them make mistakes and correct them- the best moment was when the woman playing Titiana got her hair caught on Oberon's button. :p Art takes work! My friend Daisy was able to get us tickets to the dress rehearsal from a connection at work, so we're going to be able to see the full performance!
What I do have a picture of is this hilarious old advertisement.
This wasn't meant to be too big a thing. We'd talked at the hostel about having a nice roast to celebrate Christmas in July, and the attendance kept growing. In the end, Daisy put together a GIGANTIC FEAST for nearly 25 people, that was truly delicious and also one of the best meals of all time. I wasn't too involved, other than ferrying people to Pak 'N' Save in Hestia, peeling some potatoes, and offering some moral support, but I did watch her and Beth create absolutely poetry out of vegetables and meat. We had two chickens, a pork roast, and insane cheese cauliflower dish, potatoes, cabbage, carrots, yorkshire pudding, and probably something else amazing that I'm missing because I was too full that evening for thoughts or memories.
Events like this are definitely one of my favorite parts about staying at the Dwellington. Such happiness and togetherness! :p
I think it would be truly tragic to visit Wellington without taking advantage of the amazing movie theaters in the city. Wellington is a true movie town, and the independent theaters are genuinely amazing. They're in ornate buildings, with comfortable chairs and generous space, and they serve wine, beer, and ICE CREAM. (Popcorn isn't a thing here! But ice cream cones are. When in Rome!) These theaters usually play a mix of blockbuster and indie films, but I definitely thing that the best time to visit them is during the film festival. There was a really wide-ranging variety of movies to choose from.
The festival was really well organized and really well put together, and I couldn't stop myself from seeing 4 movies. (Which meant I got to go to 3 different theaters!) I'd recommend 3 of the four without hesitation- everyone should see The Lobster, The Wolfpack, and Ex Machina. Don't look back. Just do it. Tale of Tales, a really beautiful and atmospheric and gory retelling of some lesser-known fairy tales, was in the end just ok, though worth a see for the beauty.
This was non-ironically delightful. The costumes! The stories! My heart! 10 of us from the hostel went and had a REALLY delightful evening; the best part was when our only male companion, Alex, glared a glare of death at a two year old who was making too much noise for him to enjoy the show.
But Federika and I commiserated the whole time about how the stories just aren't real. DISNEY LIES EVERYONE! DON'T BE FOOLED, INNOCENT CHILDREN! WHERE IS MY EUGENE FITZHERBERT? (SOB!) It was a genuine ton of fun. Highly recommended to all.
Kara and Jordan and I discovered Sprig and Fern back in Nelson. They're an independent brewing company that have pubs throughout New Zealand, though I think they're mostly only found in the Nelson region. I don't necessarily know they have the same creativity as some of the extremely interesting local-Wellington brewers like Garage Project and Parrotdog, but what they do have is really. good. beer. All the Sprig and Fern taverns have about 15 different Sprig and Fern brews on tap, and they are uniformly excellent. And they are creative too- I had this amazing Raspberry Stout, omg.
Anyway, the Sprig and Fern on Tinakori Road is one of the most comfortable pubs I've been to! It has great pizza, great specials, and pub quiz on Tuesday nights. We've been a few times and it's always amazing. One week there was a "Famous Elizabeth's" round, and so we had a bit of fun threatening our pub quiz masters. (We still didn't win, dangit!)
I also have to note the most glorious meal of all time (maybe excepting the Redcliff Inn in Te Anau. Maybe!). Josh works at a place on Cuba Street called Arthur's, and they had a great grabone promotion for dinner. Daisy and Amy and Beth and I went and absolutely FEASTED. I ate what might be the largest and most tender lamb shank known to man. IT WAS GLORY. Everyone go there.
But before then-- there's lots more coming up!