And then we arrived at the destination that changed the whole character of the trip… Wellington is the most Southern capital city in the world and has a lot to offer. Now, being already back to Germany, I know that so far Wellington is my favourite city in NZ.

I don’t know if I just felt this way because in Wellington I was a tourist only, but I enjoyed the atmosphere of the city a lot. It seemed to be a bit more alternative and arty than Auckland.

From our campsite which was a bit remote from the city, Anna and me took the bus to the city center.

We passed by the Beehive which is the seat of New Zealand’s government. The building has its name because of the way it looks like but people say that the Scottish architect Basil Spence had a matchbox of the brand Beehive next him while drawing the sketch of the government’s building. I think the governmental district in the heart of the city looked quite impressive.

Later the day it was time to say hello to my Mexican mates, Santiago and Andres, which were currently living in Wellington. For the reunion we decided to meet in Cuba Street which is the heart of Wellington’s Cuba Quarter. Beside a lot of alternative shops and music stores, you can find the whole range of nice cafés and restaurants on Cube Street.

Fun fact: Wellington has more cafés per citizen than New York does.

We walked by the famous faulty construction of the Bucket Fountain which splashes water on pedestrians.

After having dinner at a restaurant and participating in a tour through a horror cabinet, we walked around in the dark streets of Wellington.

Arriving in the Lambton Quarter we spontaneously decided to take the last ride of that day with the well-known Cable Car.

Since 1898 the Cable Car takes the 624 meter long route through a tunnel to the botanic gardens and a lookout in Kelburn.

At night we could see the beautiful lights of the city and in the top station we were even able to use the public piano for a short session before we had to take the next Cable Car to get back down as it was the very last one for that day.

As the day headed towards it’s end, it was time for me to say goodbye to my friends. After living together with Andres for 5 months as we were sharing the room in the hostel as well as the room in the apartment, an era came to its end. By that time I did not know that the year 2020 would hold a lot of problems for the world but at that moment I was already not sure if I would see Andres again before he flies home.

The next morning I had to get up really early to join one of the famous Lord of the Rings movie tours. By the time I had paid the ticket two days before I knew, that this would probably be the most expensive touristic thing I would do while being in NZ but I was too excited for being taken to many spots of the movies to make a big deal out of it.

Even though these pictures might seem like random places to most people in the world, for fans and nerds this tour is just perfect. Equally as in Hobbiton, the tour guide has a lot of stories about the recording to tell and you get short documentation clips on the way to the next spot.

Even though on most places there are no props around, there are a few spots where you can actually see some pieces of the set and feel like walking around Middle Earth.

What fascinated me the most was how independent the different places were from each other and how different places in New Zealand where cut together into one scene. Sometimes the places for one scene were not even on the same island.

Driving by Peter Jackson’s movie studios, where they were currently working on the next Avatar movies, we went to my personal highlight of the tour, the Weta Caves.

It is a mini movie museum and an actual movie workplace, as this company provides all the props and equipment for the Lord of the Rings characters. Swords, costumes, miniatures and much more was designed and created in the Weta Caves.

It was incredibly fascinating to see all the different steps of the creative process and how much love for the details goes in every single hand crafted piece that will later be seen for only a few seconds on screen.

Wellington’s film scene is called Wellywood as with Peter Jackson, Wellington was turned into a whole other city. But instead of putting the word Wellywood up on the hill, artists decided for the Wellington that gets blown away as the city is known for its strong wind especially in autumn and winter.

Fascinated and overwhelmed I went back to the city to meet Anna, as she stood in the city because she doesn’t like movies enough to pay money for a special guided tour.

Enjoying the weather and the city’s vibe another goodbye came closer and closer. Anna and me tried to forget about the fact that this was our last night together in Brunhilde because Anna would leave me the next morning to go South.

The two weeks we explored this foreign country together, with all its ups and downs, turned two former colleagues and later friends into life companions. After living so close together and solve problems that would have never occurred in our comfort zones back home in Germany, Anna and me had to say goodbye for now. I think I can speak for both of us that our trip was one of the most special times in our lives and that we grew in a way which is hard to describe.

You say goodbye, and I say hello – The Beatles