Wellington in a Day…

I’ve been a regular visitor to Wellington in the 20 years since my bestie moved back – other than the covid years I’ve been over at least once a year, sometimes twice, sometimes more – yet I’ve rarely featured it in a blog post. This is mostly because I’m usually in town for an event (such as WOW – the World of Wearable art show) or a party, or a weekend and partly because it’s been years since I did any of the touristy things. Given though, that Wellington is one of my favourite cities – and really does live up to its moniker of the coolest little capital in the world (in more ways than one) – that’s a massive oversight.

Earlier this year, however, on a week-long visit, on a day when my bestie was working (and I was supposed to be writing) I took myself out for the day with the intention of revisiting some of my favourite Wellington sights – well, at least the ones I could do without a car, on foot, and with a dodgy-ish ankle.

Wellington Cable Car

If you’re in Wellington you have to ride the cable car; it’s the law. Well, it’s not really, but you do have to do it, so after a (very average) Mexican brekky in Featherstone Street, that’s what I did.

On the day I played tourist, three cruise ships were in town full of people who also wanted to play tourist so I caught the cable car early to avoid the queues and had it almost to myself.

Rising steeply from the city through three tunnels and over three bridges the cable car takes you up to Kelburn and to the upper entrance of the Wellington Botanical Gardens.

The views from up here are fantastic.

Zealandia Wildlife Sanctuary

There’s a free shuttle bus that runs from the cable car station at Kelburn to Zealandia at Karori – or you can do as I did and walk…it’s only 20-30 mins.

According to the blurb on the website, Zealandia Te Māra a Tāne is “the world’s first fully-fenced urban ecosanctuary, with an extraordinary 500-year vision to restore a Wellington valley’s forest and freshwater ecosystems as closely as possible to their pre-human state.”

One of the (many) interesting facts about New Zealand is that because it was isolated there were no predatory native mammals so the flora and fauna which had evolved were unique – they’d also evolved for millions of years without needing defence from mammals. This all changed around 800 years ago when first the Polynesians and then the Europeans arrived.

With its 8.6km fence keeping out introduced mammalian predators, birds such as the tūī, kākā and kererū, once extremely rare in the region, are all now common sights around central Wellington. Other vulnerable native species such as tīeke, hihi, little spotted kiwi, and tuatara remain thriving safely in the sanctuary.

From the website…

Wellington Botanical Gardens

After sitting down with a (very good) cheese scone and cup of tea I caught the shuttle back to the cable car and chose to walk into town via the Botanical Gardens.

The last time I was here it was spring and the gardens were a mass of tulips and other bulbs. Today, a warm February day, it was just quietly beautiful.

I love these steps: Body to Soul

Body

Bony

Bond

Bend

Send

Seed

Seer

Sear

Soar

Sour

Soup

Soul

Continuing down the (steep) hill into the city I wander through Bolton Street cemetery. I know it’s a tad morbid, but historic cemeteries like this one really tell a story about early settlement and the difficulties and challenges that were faced.

This one is interesting too in that in the 1960’s – to much controversy – a motorway was directed through the middle of it.

Te Papa Tongarewa – Museum of New Zealand

After a bowl of seafood chowder at Mac’s Brewbar at the waterfront, it was time to revisit Te Papa.

This museum is just awesome. It covers everything from the formation of New Zealand to Polynesian and Maori culture, the arrival of the Europeans and so much more. There’s also plenty for the kids and I can never resist going into the earthquake house or to the Marae.

This time I was there for the exhibitions.

Gallipoli – The Scale of our War has to be seen to be believed. A collaboration with Weta Workshops, the website blurb says it better than I can:

The ground-breaking exhibition tells the story through the eyes and words of eight ordinary New Zealanders who found themselves in extraordinary circumstances. Each is captured frozen in a moment of time on a monumental scale – 2.4 times human size…

Cutting-edge technology was also used to create 3-D maps and projections, miniatures, models, dioramas, and a range of interactive experiences that bring New Zealand’s Gallipoli story to life.

The sheer size of the figures, along with their words (both spoken and through journals) made their message and their horror almost visceral. It was, without doubt, the most emotionally moving exhibition I think I’ve seen.

I brushed away tears on more than a few occasions – and I wasn’t alone.

If you get the chance to visit, don’t miss it. It’s on until Anzac Day 2025.

At the other end of the exhibition scale is Mataaho Collective: Te Puni Aroaro.

The Mataaho Collective is comprised of four wāhine (women) Māori artists who have worked together for the last decade.

Using mostly industrial materials, the installations are supposed to evoke the histories of water, light, atua, and wāhine Māori. Some I got, some I didn’t, but all were magnificent.