Am Loolah

I'm in wet and windy Welly on my own .. have been since Thursday at my first NZ conference.

If I could just reiterate ON MY OWN!

I took the Overlander train from Hamilton to Wellington - 9 and a half hours. Yes, you read that right, nine and a half hours. Couldn't see a bloody thing for the rain and the clouds ... anyway that's another story! Guy, I would guess in his 50's/60's also travelling alone, comes back from the buffet car with a coffee for me. How nice is that?

So Friday morning at conference, 8am, kick off. 2 people kindly engage me in conversation - funnily enough one of them being from my home town Tauranga! He promptly leads me to a table and pulls my chair out for me, sits next to me and "adopts" me for approximately the next 3 hours. Then we attend different workshops so get separated. Next thing I know he's waited for me at lunch - sweet.

I talk/network with people in the naughty corner outside whilst having a ciggie. End of Day 1, 4 women from Palmy are also having to move to another hotel and so help me carry my bags for the 5 minute walk. 15 minutes after checking in they call me and invite me down to the bar for a wine. They end up back in my room as I managed to book a suite (genuine error ) with wine and nibbles. In the morning they help carry me, I mean my bags, back to the other hotel for day 2 of the conference. I spend most the morning sitting with them.

Bugger - the guy from Tauranga and my new 4 BFF's aren't staying for the dinner/dance. I figure I can't go as Billy NO Mates, no big deal, quick ciggie before retiring for an early night and room service. 2 women ask me if I'm on my own would I like to join them? Let's go to the bar and have a wine so i can think about it! Oh, ok then. So the 3 of us join 2 other women, before you know it there's a table of 8 of us and you'd think we'd known each other for ages!

I am meeting up with the 4 women from Palmy next week as they have invited me to their office to check out the systems and procedures and my son is racing in Palmy next week so it fits in perfectly.

The point of my convuluted thread is I read so often about the Kiwi's being "offish" or "unfriendly" and honestly, they're the nicest, friendliest, most considerate people I've had the pleasure of meeting in a long time. Yes, they find me "funny" and I know that's not necessarily a compliment - but the ones I've had the pleasure of meeting, befriending and doing business with over the last 2.5 years have been wonderful.

So don't worry about the Kiwi's not having a sense of humour, being insular etc .. you too may meet many who are just genuinely nice people.

Kija

That's lovely to hear Am Loolah. They sound very nice indeed. Glad you're having a good experience

Gosh people actually helping you in that way, here they barge past you in a stampede, getting into a lift is a nightmare, everyone stampedes in and out

lardyl

Nope, you're right I got chatted up at the bar tonight and also a blonde lady was generally pestering me at our table, what with my England "3 lions" tee-shirt on and all, with all me kiwi football mates......
Not backwards at coming forwards.....until you flash the wedding band.....
If it is possible they must've been more inebriated than we were.....
What a night BTW, bowls (and lots of very cheap beer!) then Curry, then live music, then pizza then home for 0220hrs - great night!!!!

strawbie

Wow........so people do stay out after dark in NZ then, i was beginning to wonder with all the negative threads and comments doing the rounds again!!

lardyl

Yep we do and get lots of P!ss down our necks and look at the local tottie and fall over and have a good time - all in the name of football.......

Plus I was crap at bowls, well my partner (the team manager) was, I as the team captain was OK, so we got hammered 13-1 but I was very good at Zambuka, Tequila and beer........

Off to bed now as the missus is wondering where I am......

lardyl

you would be surprised if I said lots of pubs close at 10.00pm and lots of take-a-ways at 9.30pm......
it's true in the week and most places are dead as most Kiwis are tucked up by those times......
on the other hand at weekends when you find the right place you can be drinking until 1 am......
plus one of our guys got "timed out" by the bouncers, for no reason.......

kiwichicks

Glad you had a good time and wish we could have meet for coffee, was working in Wellington on Saturday, maybe next time
To be honest most of my new friends are kiwi, just a couple of ex-pats that I feel I can trust.
I have more of a social life with the kiwis and I love the culture, their values, no moaning about not be able to buy certain products, no keeping up with the jones, they are welcoming, funny and you can be yourself drunk or sober
Hope this is a start of many new friends

D

Kiwiprincess

I got in this weekend around 6am. Heck I wish places closed a bit earlier in Wellington as that would fix my natural tendency to dance like a loon in the wee small hours.

For that matter, I have been out to similar times through the week. I think it's a matter of knowing where to go. I try not to do that too often...work the next day becomes rather problematic on 2 hours worth of sleep!

lardyl

now you are putting us old gits to shame - having siad that I only managed 3hrs sleep before the kids got me up.......and then 5 hrs last night, and I am an 8hrs bloke.....did get a siesta on Sunday afternoon though!

Am Loolah

Sorry - I would have loved to have had a little meet up but I was flat out the whole time to be honest. Home now though and thank goodness the weather improved.

I love visiting Welly - but home is where the mess is ...

Most of the party I was with from the conference went out clubbing to Boogie somewhereorother until 3AM - I was enjoying the peace and quiet of being in a hotel too much to join them! They said the places in the city the 3 nights they'd been out were heaving and such a blast!

Kiwiprincess

That would be Boogie Wonderland.

I'm putting money on the fact that some of them ended up in Electric Avenue after.

btw...not necessarily a good thing.

Oh, and as for my 6am shenanagins - I was exhausted the next day, woke up in the late afternoon and thought "what a waste of a day". Turning into my mother. Super.