The three hour ferry ride went a lot faster on the way back. Not sure why but it seems like I had just sat down and turned on my iPod and then we were in the port at Wellington (and no I didn't fall asleep).
After leaving the ferry James dropped us off at Te Papa or the museum of New Zealand while he went to drop off our stuff at the house we were staying at. It was a museum similar to the war memorial museum in Auckland. They had lots of interactive exhibits talking about the evolution and history of New Zealand. There were also exhibits all about natural disasters such as volcanos and earthquakes since NZ is part of the ring of fire and these things are not uncommon. The coolest exhibit by far was the colossal squid. The museum of New Zealand is the only museum in the world that has a giant squid on display for the public to view. In 2007 some fisherman off of the coast of Antarctica were surprised to find a giant squid feeding on some of the fish they were reeling in. The fisherman froze the squid and transported it to NZ where it was studied and then put on display. Honestly it looks pretty nasty but hey I've seen a giant squid!
We had time to wander around the city for a bit until we met back up as a group around 4. I got back together with the group but then left with some family friends that we have that live in Wellington. My dad came to Wellington for a few months on a business trip a couple of years ago. His first Sunday here he looked up the time for church and found out it was at 9. He arrived around 8:30 just to be early and found out from the one person there setting up that it was stake conference weekend and so he was pretty early. Well that one person ended up introducing my dad to his family and inviting him over for Sunday dinner. The rest is history. Fast forward a few months to the beginning of November of that same year. I was a brand new missionary at the St George temple visitors' center and in walks a couple from New Zealand. They take one look at my name tag and ask me where I was from. When I told them Alabama they told me about meeting my dad. Haha small world.
Well we still keep in contact with them and when they found out I was visiting Wellington they were kind enough to pick me up and give me the local tour. I got to see where my dad worked while he was here as well as the street where the red carpet was for the hobbit and LOTR premieres. This was particularly interesting because Brother Turner was an orc in the LOTR films. He was also a goblin in the Narnia film and I got to see his mask (which was pretty creepy). After driving the loop of Wellington they shouted me to dinner (meaning paid for me) at an amazing steak place. I had the best time talking about my South Island adventures (they were impressed at how much we had seen), culture differences, and New Zealand facts. Both of them are very much into the outdoors and it was so fun comparing different places I had visited to where they have been.
After dinner they brought me back to their house for some ice cream and a chance to meet their kids. After two weeks of traveling everywhere it was super nice to just spend the evening with a family again. After family prayer and putting the youngest kids to bed they took me back to my group.
I was pretty tired from everything so I went to bed shortly after getting back with the group. We stayed with the same family as before when we visited Wellington. They had all of the air mattresses and couches covered with sheets for us. It was wonderful to have a nice soft bed :).
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