We woke up early to drive from Taupo down to Wellington. We dropped Julie off for Te Papa at 12:30 and then Erik and I checked into our hotel. We ate at a vegetarian place on Cuba Street and then wandered the mall, shopping a bit. I had some good finds in a resale clothing shop. Then we went back to the hotel to take a nap, and met Julie an hour early at the museum (we had decided to meet at 6pm, but Erik & I wanted to spend an hour there at the giant squid exhibit, and we ran into Julie at the entrance).
After walking to the cable car and taking it up to the botanical gardens, we wandered around a bit, sporadically, then walked back to a great-looking restaurant we saw earlier while searching for a nonexistant movie theater (while walking towards the cable car). Chow was excellent-- a melange of small Asian plates to share. Although it was New Year's Eve, they honored their Wednesday night two-for-one drinks special, so Julie and I had a few. We ate outside on the balcony, despite Wellington's well-known windiness, but when we had finished our meal and it started to rain, we moved to the bar (it was so crowded that we could never get a regular table). I just had to try the brulee-fired pineapple sticky rice. And it was delicious. Watching the three very busy bartenders was also fun.
We went back to the hotel and got ready. Julie was exhausted and stayed in, and Erik & I went to the San Francisco Bathhouse (I know! One of the bartenders was even dressed in a sailor cap and tiny, tiny white shorts. Cute.) for "24 Hour Party People," a Brit-pop dance night. Unfortunately the music wasn't as advertised on the poster we saw on Cuba St, but we danced for two hours anyways and then left immediately after midnight to walk down Cuba Mall and then back to the hotel. The stars we out, so vaguely unfamiliar, and it was a beautiful evening.