I touched down at Wellington, after a mad dash for the connecting flight in Christchurch airport, and had an unexpected sense of familiarity. But of course, I'd arrived into Wellington airport not only ten days ago but also five months ago, on my way through from Singapore. So I had no difficulties in locating the bus into town, and making my way to Bernard & Amanda's house.

The next few days were quiet. I decided to detox for a while, so my diet consisted largely of root vegetables and no booze. I think my body will thank me for that. And other than cook food, I spent my time reading, catching up on current affairs via BBCWorld TV, and going to the cinema: "Super Size Me" - what an excellent documentary that is! - follows on nicely from the book "Fast Food Nation" which I thought was fantastic; "The Bourne Supremacy" is a little disappointing I suppose, but considering how great the first one was that's no surprise, and I have seen much worse sequels.

On Friday evening I met up with Dan & Sandra, who I had met while travelling down the west coast of South Island in May. It was really good to catch up with them again! I met Dan at his office (he is an architect in Wellington) and got there in time to join in with their usual Friday evening drinkies. I was made to feel at home, and immediately had a glass of red wine thrust into my hand. And only a matter of milliseconds later I was offered the hospitality of the parents of one of Dan's colleagues! Mel's folks live in a village on the Bay of Plenty, which I will be visiting later this month. Kiwis are truly a friendly bunch.

Dan & I headed off to a cute little cocktail bar called Havana, just behind Wellington's trendy Cuba Street. We drank a variety of concoctions and had a good old chat about this & that. Then Sandra picked us up and we headed off for a bite to eat in a waterside cafe. Sandra is pregnant, so she wasn't on the drink. I felt the need to compensate for her so I had not one but two tasty Monteith's beers with my steak. Perhaps it was this that made me so eager to offer my assistance on the morrow: Dan & Sandra's house is in the process of being completely remodelled.

So on Saturday morning I walked over to their house, not too far from Wellington's cricket green, and proceeded to cart the huge heap of builders' rubble from the back garden to the skip outside the front of the house. I hope I was of some assistance to Dan, who has been doing all the work alone for the last few months, and who has a few months more to tackle before the house will be ready. But when it is ready it will be spectacular! Pretty much every room is swapping round: the bathroom will be part of an extended living area, the living room will be a bedroom, the bedroom will be the kitchen. There's pipes and cables everywhere, not to mention empty window frames for all the glazing. I can't wait to visit the finished product one day.

That evening Bernard & Amanda came back from their week in Queenstown. It sounds like they had a great time, not least of which was the view out the plane window on the way back, over lovely snowy mountains.

We went to Melissa & Brian's flatwarming party, but all three of us were a bit knackered so we didn't stay out too long. Sunday was also a relaxed day. Amanda accompanied me on a tiki tour (that means small car-based trip) to the southern tip of the North Island, from where we saw the looming peaks of the South Island across the straits, some of them mantled in snow and others looking impressive in their normal greeny grey. The beaches down this end of Wellington are lovely too.

Friday could have been stressful I suppose, but in fact everything was pretty much all prepared. That evening the wedding rehearsal took place. I stayed at home in Craig's house, manning the phone in case of emergencies. As it happens, my viewing of Gattaca on DVD was uninterrupted. I walked into town to meet with Bernard, Amanda, Craig & Jayne in the Flying Scotsman for a drink, before we went to India Garden, a curry house, where we met up with the physics crowd. Much curry was eaten by all, and there was amusing conversation all round.

And so we come to The Big Day itself: Bernard & Amanda's wedding! The weather couldn't have been better when I woke up full of excitement at 8 o'clock. I looked out of my dormitory window across the gently rolling inner suburbs of Dunedin, towards the Pacific Ocean beyond, and saw calm seas, blue skies and glorious sunshine. But this was not to last for long: by about ten o'clock (when I had got my shit together and was about to head up to Craig's house) the sky had clouded over completely, there was howling wind and the sleety rain / hail mixture was falling at a 60 degree angle! Things looked less than promising for the day's photo shoot.

Bernard, Craig & I headed out during a break in the weather to grab some lunch in town. We went to a fabulous Cambodian noodle bar and I had a chicken chilli soup that put me in mind of the excellent roadside food I had enjoyed in Chiang Mai. A small amount of pre-wedding shopping and then we got back to Craig's to await the arrival of Brian the photographer and Malcolm, who was on chauffeur duty for the boys for the afternoon (Tye was driving the girls in his big old American oil tanker of a car). The gales and sleet that battered against the windows of Craig's house were not particularly welcome, as you can imagine!

Miraculously the weather cleared up by 3 o'clock, just as the bridal party and the groomal(!) party were due to make their separate ways to Otago University for piccies. And the rain held off all afternoon, only returning once everyone was safe inside Dunedin Railway Station for the wedding service and reception. And what a beautiful wedding it was too! The service was brief but very moving, with wonderful contributions from Amanda's sister Lynley and Bernard's sister Amanda. The bride looked absolutely stunning, as indeed did the whole wedding party.

And the reception was great too, with no end of booze and plenty of snacks (including a new experience for me: "savouries" which are mini versions of the ubiquitous meat pie) to sustain people through the dancing, the speeches and the merriment.

I was one of the last five to leave, along with Craig, Bernard's sister Lynda, Tye & Kirsten. We were thinking of heading on to a club or something but to be honest it was so bloody cold as we walked in to the Octagon that we decided to call it a night and head home. There was a bit of argie in the taxi queue, with a spotty youth bad-mouthing people as he tried to push to the front. He had a go at the girl in front of me, calling her Fucking Maori (I hadn't even realised she was a Maori; indeed she is the first Maori I've actually met) and - hilariously - Four-Eyes, which was rich coming from his bespectacled person!

So, a day of happiness, of bitter cold, of inner warmth, of the triumph of sensible over stupid. You can't say fairer than that.

The day after the wedding was for me a little hard on the head. Teh fact of having moved into Craig's house the previous night (Jayne the bridesmaid was now staying with her boyfriend in a hotel) seems to have caused my body to go all crap: I had a sore head, general apathy and a feeling of fatigue that I could only put down to over a week of partying plus the culmination of the week's stresses in last night's wedding.

So I was a bit quiet all day really. Lots of Bernard & Amanda's family came round for a buffet lunch and to watch the happy couple open their presents. I couldn't face polite conversation really, so I became Super Tea Man and went around making sure everyone had drinks and things. That evening I was knackered! But Craig managed to drag me out for a meal with Kirsten & Tye at a Cambodian place behind the Octagon which was very tasty indeed and went some way to restoring my strength.

Monday was a day of goodbyes. Craig was off to Finland to attend a conference, and most of the family members headed off too. Only Berndard, Amanda & I remained to clear up the house and prepare to leave ourselves. I had been toying with the idea of binning my flight to Wellington the next day, and instead taking the bus to Christchurch and thence to Kaikoura to swim with dolphins. But the weather was still so bloody cold that I decided I couldn't face the icy seas. And I also couldn't quite face hours and hours of bus journey when I had a flight already booked. I am such a ditherer!!

A quiet lunch at a Japanese noodle restaurant was followed by an afternoon & evening of sipping champagne (the woman at the checkout in the supermarket where I went with Amanda to buy the bubbly said she had never sold such an expensive bottle of wine before!) and drinking lots of wine. We managed to drag ourselves out for an Indian meal in the evening at Indian Summer. This was in my view better quality than the meal at Indian Garden, but both were good.

And so, finally, my time came to take my leave of the newlyweds. But our parting was made easier by the knowledge that we will see each other again at the weekend in Wellington, because I will be staying in their house until they return from Queenstown on Saturday.

If Sunday morning was bad, Monday morning was worse! Alcohol was beginning to take a toll on my system, after three full days of boozing. But it was with a glad heart that I met up with Suki at lunchtime. We went for a meal at a bizarro 70s stylee greasy spoon cafe, and I had a huge mound of blue cod which was a bit greasy but acceptably tasty really. After lunch we went to have a coffee and a chat at the art gallery coffee shop, which is lovely.

Later on Monday Amanda & Jayne her bridesmaid returned from their hen weekend in Christchurch. We had a quick chat about our respective booze-ups and then eventually headed into town to Pasha, a lovely Turkish restaurant. We - surprisingly enough - drank lots of wine and then struggled back up the steep hill that is York Place to Craig's house. After a quick chat I headed back to the hostel, at a reasonable hour for a change.

On Tuesday the weather decided to turn suddenly wet & windy. I waited for the driving rain to ease off a little before braving the elements. Craig being back at work and the girls being out shopping, Bernard and I walked into town in a rare rain-free moment and headed to Ananda, the vegetarian Indian restaurant, for a delicious thali lunch. I was reminded of the Indian meals I enjoyed so many of in Malaysia, and couldn't help eschewing the cutlery to tuck in with my fingers.

After lunch it was still raining, so Bernard decided to buy a raincoat (this is something he had been meaning to do for some time, given the often wet & windy weather in Wellington). We were just leaving the menswear shop after a successful purchase when I overheard some Spanish speakers having difficulties with one of the assistants. I, in my subtle way, barged in on the conversation and asked in Spanish if I could help. While I was chatting away with the tourists (who it turns out were from Chile) I couldn't help noticing the astonished looks on the staff's faces, and I heard the sales manager asking Bernard "When can he start?" Perhaps it won't be as difficult as I fear finding jobs in Australia!

That evening I met up with Craig at the Fortune theatre, a converted church just up from the Octagon, to watch Shakespeare's Othello. Amusingly, the lead was being played by someone from EastEnders. His performance was great, but I couldn't help giggling a little bit every time he spoke because, with his gruff London voice, if you closed your eyes it was like hearing Frank Bruno doing pantomime! The play was fantastic (this Shakespeare bloke did some good stuff, didn't he?) and time seemed to fly by. After the show, we headed into town and managed to find one place still open & serving food. It was a little Persian restaurant and I had a delightful mixed salad platter. The falafel were fluffy and the roast vegetables were divine.

Oh my God! As I readied myself for a night's sleep I realised Tuesday was not only a teetotal day but also a vegetarian one!

On Wednesday I accompanied Bernard on his wedding errands for the day. These included getting Orders of Service printed up, which we did at the University. While we were waiting for the print run to be finished, we went for a walk down through the dodgy industrial wastelands where Bernard's old office was. It was a refreshingly different side to Dunedin! The sun was warm and the sky was blue, so even the recycling centre and the refineries were looking good. The coffee & huge biscuit at A Budgie Called Harry, just off the campus, were just what the doctor ordered after our pleasant stroll. And to round out the day, we popped into the Otago Museum and were edified by the displays on Polynesian culture & history.

That evening we went for dinner at a Korean restaurant. The stock Korean ingredient, kimchi (pickled cabbage with chilli), was much more palatable than I remembered from the last Korean meal I'd had, a few years back in Dusseldorf. I had a dish of cold noodles with cucumber and weirdy Korean sauces, which was much nicer than my first impression of it would have me believe. The harsh flourescent light in the toilets, however, was by no means nice! There wasn't a trace of warmth in it, and all of us commented on how blotchy our faces appeared in the mirror there.

Thursday was a day of rushing about on errands: things like picking up hire suits (him) and getting nails done (her). I made it my job to be generally helpful wherever I could, and from feedback I think it was appreciated that I was there to soak up any excess stress that was being generated by the bride, the groom, the bridesmaid or the best man.

The first job of the day was to drop a crate of wine off at the evening's restaurant, in readiness for the big family meal later. After Bernard & I had done that, we walked up to the University campus to meet Craig for lunch. We went to a converted church just off campus called St Lee's (this church has also been an audio equipment store and a gay bar) and ate well. It was a pleasant walk in the windy sun, and felt a bit springlike for a change.

After lunch we headed back to Craig's office. Bernard had to print off some wedding details and then rush back home to sort out a wedding speech with Amanda. I spent the afternoon in Craig's office getting to grips with the html of my own website. After Wednesday's half-hour "html for ninnies" course Bernard gave me, I felt up to the task of creating new pages for my site without using Dreamweaver. And it worked!

I wandered down to the French Cafe later on, to meet up with the combined Baird & Darnton families plus Craig & Jayne and enjoy a fabulous meal. Bernard's sisters Amanda & Lynda had flown in from the UK that day, and his parents had just got to Dunedin from elsewhere in NZ too. Amanda's sister & her family had flown down from Auckland, her brother & his wife had recently arrived from Brunei, and her mum & partner were also in town.

It was a big party, which the younger unjetlagged people extended beyond the restaurant into a cute secret bar called Pequino, where we drank dodgy cocktails with Kiwi manuka honey vodka. We ended the night back at Brimstone, where Richard wasn't on duty and Jodie was horrendously overworked. She'd been on shift for fourteen hours or something silly, and didn't really have time to chat with us as it was a busy night in the bar. Oh well. Sunday was a one-off, it seems, and I'll appreciate it for what it was.