The Purple Pukeko Pirate: More IFSA time

Another IFSA weekend! This weekend is our cultural event/Volunteering Event. We went to my first rugby game ever! It was lots of fun. We saw the Hurricanes (wellington’s team) play the cheetahs (South Africa). We lost, sadly, but it was still really interesting getting to see the game and experience it first hand. After the game we were all starving so we headed to a cheap place in town called the Cadillac Diner. It’s an “All American” Diner and was chock full of cheesy American stereotypes. And we LOVED it. We all got milkshakes and some other random food. Tess got pancakes, I got a burger and Dani got a Veggie burger. Molly just stuck to an ice-cream sundae. It was a really funny place and very delicious and filling. Then we went home and met up with Sam, a girl we met on the Adventure Weekend with IFSA. Sam and her three friends were staying in my room for the night while they visited Wellington. (MY ROOM IS HUGE!) So we met up at my house and got ready and then took them to see the nightlife of Wellington! The next morning we had to get up pretty early and go do some Volunteer work with IFSA. We went out to Matiu/Somes Island, which is in the middle of the harbor. We took a little ferry and when we got off the boat we had to go into a room immediately and check our bags for ‘pests’. The island is a sanctuary and so all pests have been removed. After that we moved on to do some re-graveling of paths and tree trimming for a few hours. It was actually really fun, and the island is so amazingly beautiful, but what here isn’t, honestly. So we got to wander around and look at the sights. This is where we learned about what the bunkers near our houses were. There are more bunkers on the island, and they have a sign explaining them. So we read up on the gun battlements and how they were never used. Apparently there are 6 different sights where there are old abandoned bunkers around the bay! After volunteering we headed back to Wellington, right on the waterfront to a delicious pizzeria called One Red Dog. We were all starving, and so the already delicious food tasted even better than usual! YUM. It’s great when IFSA feeds us, because they give us SO MUCH FOOD. It was a great little weekend. That was also the weekend that we had Daylight savings time here, just to make the time change back to the US even more confusing.