1 week in...

[Hellybelly7]

So after a month of travelling round New Zealand, we finally got back to Wellington last weekend and have spent our first week getting settled into our new apartment, buying furniture and doing a mountain of laundry! We have already fallen in love with Wellington and we haven't even begun to properly explore. Living at the top of Cuba Street makes life very easy as we haven't got a car sorted yet. OH starts work in town tomorrow after having an interview last Monday and being offered the job the next day. Couldn't have worked out any better. I have yet to start looking for work - still very much in holiday mode!

We were kindly offered a lift home by a stranger as we struggled up the road with our flat pack furniture and so far, everyone we have come across has been pleasant, polite and chatty. Such a refreshing change from the UK! The abundance of vintage stores and coffee shops makes the stroll into town particularly fun and we had a great time wondering round the Harbourside Market this morning, despite the rain. Weather wise, we have been very lucky so far - it's been beautiful most of the week.

So while OH goes to earn his crust tomorrow, I will start exploring a bit further afield and get to grips with our new home. I guess the next step is to try and make some friends. Any helpful suggestions on how to start with this would be very welcome... I'd like to think we're fairly normal, friendly folk!

[Azkateaz]

Hi! We've also been in Welly just about a week. I've joined several local groups on meetup.com that match my interests and have started meeting people through there. You might try it!

[Lauralocks]

Hi Helly,
Welcome to Wellington! We've been here just over a month now. You sound like your getting sorted quickly. We spent 3 weeks in a holiday apartment but are now in our own place with some furniture! We're working on a car, then we can get the rest of the bits we need before our boxes arrive from the UK. I'm working but OH isn't, so a similar situation to you I guess.

We were wondering how to go about meeting people and we've joined various groups on Meetup (www.meetup.com). We're going to our first meet up this Wednesday - we're helping to weed a bit of parkland/bush just off the Terrace, then we're reading ready for a book group next week. We've also joined the Amnesty group as that's something we did in London and I've found a knitting/crocheting group. Meetup seems like a really great way to do things and meet people. I hadn't come across it in the UK.

If you fancy a coffee/drink some time let me know. We've been here long enough to find some nice bars!

Laura

[Adams Girl]

Wow you've got a lot done in your first week, many congratulations!

I think we need an ENZ Wellington meetup soon...

[Lauralocks]

Oooo, I definitely think a Wellington ENZ meetup would be good.

[Adams Girl]

Oooo, I definitely think a Wellington ENZ meetup would be good.

Picnic somewhere on Saturday 24th, maybe? I think maybe a post in the meetups forum would probably be an idea hehe...

[Hellybelly7]

Thanks for the tips ladies. I have just very quickly been on meetup.com and joined a group for girls new to Wellington. They meet up fairly regularly for meals and drinks. I will have a look in more detail at some of the other groups this evening. There was a craft beer group which caught my eye but seemed to be aimed just at men :-( There is a cocktail night planned for Saturday 24th for members of the girls new to Wellington group which I might pop along to but a picnic in the afternoon sounds like it could be fun, weather permitting. Other than that, meeting for a coffee with any of you sounds lovely too. Like I said, I'm not working at the moment so am free to do pretty much anytime and anywhere!