Wellington was our last city on the North Island, and it was also our favourite. It wasn’t particularly beautiful, modern or classy, it just felt comfy and accommodating and we loved to walk its streets. What we didn’t know about the city was that it was hilly, in a San Francisco / Laurel Canyon kind of way, with roads, high streets and parks all tucked away in little green valleys. We spent 12 days there, in a little suburb called Karori, which was up in the hills about a 10 minute bus ride from town. We absolutely loved it there, and if we ever were to live on a more permanent basis in New Zealand, this would be the place.
This kinetic water sculpture was located in the geographical centre of town along Cuba street, a lively pedestrian shopping avenue full of great little shops and cafés.One of the many quirky stores along Cuba Street, this was the interior of Pegasus books, where I bought an old copy of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.The National War MemorialWalking up to the lookout at the top of Mount Victoria, we discovered one of Dominique’s favorite things: a tree swing!The view atop Mount Victoria.The view atop Mount Victoria atop a cannon.A first person view atop Mount Victoria atop a cannon.Wellington had a nice waterfront area, and for a city it had the bluest waters we’ve ever seen. This is a creepy statue called “Solace in the Wind”.By blind chance we bumped into Ian (on the left), a fellow hiker we made friends with during the Tongariro Alpine Crossing. He’s a NZ ex-pat currently living in England, but was back here for a high school reunion. Throughout our stay in Wellington I kept wondering whether we’d bump into him, and sure enough there he was having coffee with one of his old school mates along the waterfront. We joined them for a chat and had a lovely time. A really great guy, I was so happy to have bumped into him again!The business district of Wellington. Due to building restrictions because of earthquakes, the buildings don’t get much taller than this.That round building is nicknamed “The Beehive”, and houses the Prime Ministerial and cabinet offices. Not the best shot I’ll admit, but it’s the only one I took. Actually, I’m not sure why I included it in this collection, as it’s not the nicest looking piece of architecture, actually ugly in my opinion. Maybe that’s why I partially hid it with the other ugly building in front. Anyway, you had better savour this photo now, because it might be the last time you see it.A postcard perfect picture of the Wellington skyline. We took the cable car up to the Wellington Botanical Gardens.At the botanical gardens there was a “Human Sundial”, where you could tell the time by standing in a particular spot depending on the month of the year. It was quite accurate!As stated earlier, Wellington is surrounded by beautiful green rolling hills. This was taken from the botanical gardens, but you can see homes on the hills in the background. Not a bad place to live.This is a Kaka, a rare parrot native to the Wellington area, but is slowly recovering in numbers. We saw this one at the botanical gardens.This is a Tui, a very charismatic bird with the most interesting bird song: it actually sounds a bit like R2D2. Here’s a sample I found on YouTube.Back in downtown Wellington, there were a lot of hipster joints. Here’s Dominique putting on her best hipster pose in front of Best Ugly Bagels, which turned out to be pretty similar to the ones in Montreal.Here are two hipster posers eating some ugly bagels in front of the Havana Bar.Wellington had some great street art. This is one example.And this is another.My favorite bar in Wellington, called Golding’s Free Dive. Very colourful, and full of Start Wars memorabilia. Can you spot the blaster?Having a coffee at the cuban-inspired Fidel’s Café. This was the outside area in the back of the restaurant, which is usually quite crowded. We got there really early for breakfast, so had the place to ourselves.Continuing on our Cuban theme, this was at another place across town called Havana Coffee Works. They were the kings of coffee in Wellington, and you could find their brand of coffee all around town. We bought some for the French press back home, and it was delicious!We spent the day in a suburb of Wellington called Miramar, which is home to the two special effects companies Weta Workshop and Weta Digital. Although we were caught by this big troll, he turned out to be very nice and gave us directions.Gollum hanging out in the Weta gift shop.After visiting the Weta complex, we went to go see Thor: Ragnarok at The Roxy Cinema in Miramar. Created and funded by Weta, it was one of the nicest cinemas we have ever been to, as it was decked out in all sorts of art-deco stylings, and even had booths for two! Watching a really great movie in a really great cinema made for a really great way to end a day!This was at The Museum of New Zealand, or Te Papa. There was an incredible exhibition about New Zealand’s role in Gallipoli during the First World War. Another production by the very talented Weta Workshop, it had these incredibly detailed large-scale soldiers caught in a freeze-frame from their real-life war story. It’s hard to find the words to describe the experience, but you can find out more here.Near where we lived in Karori, there was a wildlife sanctuary called Zealandia that we visited on one of our last days in Wellington. It was a beautiful day, and we were surprised to be in such a lush countryside within minutes of where we stayed.The lake in Zealandia was man-made from this dam.This is an Eurasian blackbird. I’m no bird expert, but don’t I sound like one?This is a cute little Tuatara lizard. Actually, I just offended the little guy, because he’s not a lizard, he’s his own separate species. What’s the difference? Well, they don’t mind colder weather and are nocturnal, and well…okay I’m not a reptile expert either!This was our little high street in Karori, about a 5 minute walk from where we stayed.
This was taken from our bedroom. Outside in the back was a lush forest, complete with tree house!Just beyond the tree house was a path that led to a cemetery. It was one of the most picturesque cemeteries we’ve ever seen, and it was right in our back yard!At dusk, we brought a string of lights to the cemetery for some photo fun.One morning we went exploring the cemetery, and discovered that it went on for miles! What added to the experience were those fabulous rolling hills, and we would take these paths that would lead down a valley out of view, only to reveal a whole other section of gravestones.This is us doing a creepy pose. Did I mention that we were in Wellington for Hallowe’en? Click on the image to see how we looked that evening!
