don't you want to be, my neighbour?

I am starting to like the fact it's November and the sun is just started to shine with some regularity. I've also been in Wellington long enough the novelty of a new country has worn off, as I realized tonight in the grocery store, and found I wasn't trying to do any currency or weight conversions, or wondering about the lack of familiar brand names. This is kind of a interesting point in the trip, since I came over here to experience a new country, and at this point it's just feeling like a move to a city, although one I'm rather enjoying. However, starting this weekend we should be spending a week traveling around the North Island - there's nothing like living out of a backpack to feel like a traveler again.

So it's also probably a good time to take stock of some of my everyday surroundings. I'm not tired of our location - we ended up with a room looking onto of New Zealand's oldest cricket grounds, Basin Reserve; and further out, Mount Victoria, one of the elevated ridges which have largely remained free of houses, buildings, or other development and instead serve as parks overlooking the city and dividing the central city from many of the suburbs.
Mount Victoria is also home to the city's best-known lookout, a spot which invariably makes me involuntarily say "I can see my house from here," as one is supposed to do and as one wants, unsuccessfully, to avoid doing.
However, if you, too, want to see my house from here and join in the crass nature of the whole thing, follow the above picture's link.


The large oval green space is the playing surface of Basin Reserve. The city, or someone, thoughtfully leaves the stadium gates open for pedestrians to wander through (although there are small signs politely asking the public to stay off the playing surface. Amazingly, this suggestion is apparently universally followed. I can't imagine such a thing happening in the middle of a city in the States. There's a lot about Basin Reserve I can't imagine happening in the States. It's one of the oldest test cricket grounds in the country; has housed some of the biggest moments in New Zealand cricket history, which really is a big deal down here, at least among the sport fans; but has become obsolete as bigger, nicer stadiums have been built. I'm thinking the best comparison is to one of the grand old-generation baseball stadiums - Ebbets Field, the Polo Grounds, maybe Tiger Stadium - which just fall into disrepair and eventually demolition.
Basin Reserve is still occasionally used for an international test match as an homage to its past, although even here the practice is apparently about to end in favor of the new parks, and regularly used for club cricket matches. And, as earlier stated, the inside of the park, the concrete walkway between the stands and field, is treated as an extension of the sidewalk.


The view directly across the street from my house. Above the brick wall is a steep grass-and-tree-covered hill about 100 feet high. On top of the hill is a local university, as well as the National War Memorial:


About a mile down the road, the city streets give way to the hilltop of Mount Victoria, a long ridge covered in walking trails.



Even below the lookout, you can see the entire city center from the trails. The first picture in this post is a view of the rooftops of the Mount Victoria neighborhood, looking toward downtown.
And I'll leave you with one more "I-can-see-my-house-from-here" snap, just to act like a proper American tourist.