Wellington Top Ten

Here, in no particular order, are my top ten favorite things about living in Wellington:

1. Very few traffic lights and stop signs! I love how easy it is to get from here to there with only round-abouts to contend with!!! Since I hardly ever travel during peak traffic times it makes getting around town fast and easy, I so love it.

2. Sunrise over Wellington Harbour. I threw the "u" into harbor since I am in NZ, I'm now very schizophrenic with my spelling. This morning I saw the most glorious sunrise as I was walking the dog - if I ever remember to bring my camera that early in the morning I'll post a pic, it's truly beautiful.

3. Smaller house to clean - I can get the entire house vacuumed from two outlets. And it's a lot easier to clean one bathroom than three!

4. We can walk to just about everything we need. People here walk everywhere - there are plenty of sidewalks and pedestrian crossings so that it is safe for me to walk to the vet with four small children, one young dog and a cat in a cage.

5. Fresh air - I do love the days we have with the windows open and the breeze blowing through. Not having a/c has been both a blessing and a challenge, but in this case I am looking on the bright side!

6. Cafes - lots of them, great ones, easily accessible and almost all make a fantastic cup of coffee.

7. More casual attire among my fellow moms - I never dress up for the girls' activities and I don't look that out of place. I'm usually clean, but that's about it. Makeup is totally optional.

8. Food, glorious food! There are so many choices here - you want Indian? Check. Malaysian? Check. French? Check. Pizza? Check. Turkish? Check. Mexican? Yes! Even Mexican!! You want a yummy bistro? Not 5 minutes away! Fish and Chips? Of course, check! I can't even think of all the different kinds of cuisine, but if you want it, there's a VERY good chance you can get it here and that it will be good.

9. Buses, Trains and the like - public transportation is fantastic so if you can't be bothered to drive, or only want to own one car, or don't want the hassle of parking downtown, you can ride the bus! Easy peasy and not too expensive, it's a great thing.

10. Tons of new places to explore - we've been using our weekends to discover the different beaches, museums, restaurants, sanctuaries, etc all in our city. Soon we will actually venture further out of Wellington and try snow skiing, camping, tramping and whatever else sounds adventurous. It really is "a whole new world".