CRISTINE FARINAS

The last week of August called for an out of town day trip to Palmerston North, famously called Palmy. I knew nothing about Palmy except that I have a friend who lives there. So I consulted tripadvisor for some recommendations on things to do in Palmy. I was surprised that their i-Site Visitor Centre is number 6 on the list. I wanted to find out why. Our (intercity) bus left Wellington at 0730 and we arrived in Palmy just before 10am. The first place that we visited was indeed the i-Site Visitor Centre because we needed to use the toilet. To be fair, it is quite a good i-Site. It is roomy and it has good facilities like spacious toilets, showers and lockers. I definitely wouldn't hesitate to stop by here for some comfort especially if the weather is not that good. They also have a mother and child room where mothers can prepare milk for their children (they have hot water dispenser) and feed (or change) them peacefully. Quite impressive. When we got out of the i-Si

My friend Eirenne and I have finally commenced our weekly (weather dependent) walking trips in Wellington.   As this was our first official walk, we opted for an easy one.   Hence, our first choice to explore the well recommended Trelissick Park in Ngaio.  Trelissick Park is very accessible from the city by public transportation. However, buses can be quite unreliable sometimes. When we arrived at the bus stop in Courtenay Place just after 12 noon, the bus 43 was arriving in 15 minutes. Then all of a sudden, the bus disappeared on the screen and there were no other buses queued up after that, so we decided to "uber" it. It only took us roughly 15minutes to Trelissick Crescent, one of the six entrances to the park. This walk was an easy one for me as the terrain was flat, although quite hilly in some areas. But really, nothing that made me short of breath or anything. I just had to be careful with the tree roots and some pine needles as they were quite slippery.

For the longest time, I avoided going to the cinema on my own because I just didn't feel confident enough to be sitting in a dark room next to strangers. Actually, I've got to be honest. It was the fear of being judged that prevented me from going to the movies by myself more than anything. I was scared that people would think that I didn't have friends or that I must have been lonely or worse, unwanted. I don't know but there was something about doing things on my own that freaked me out before. It was not until I came to New Zealand that I gained full confidence in doing things alone. So yesterday I went on a movie date with myself for the first time ever.  J dropped me off at The Roxy cinema in Miramar after lunch. I went straight to the till and asked if I could have " a" ticket to see Pete's Dragon . No, I didn't feel judged at all. In fact, it felt like watching a movie alone is a normal thing to do. I even asked for popcorn to complete