Wellington

Accommodation: Tue 18^th Feb – Fri 21^st Feb

Tue 18^th Feb

The direct route for driving from Martinborough to Wellington was 90 minutes but we took a detour via Cape Palliser and the Cape Palliser Lighthouse. We had initially planned to walk the Pinnacle’s Ridge track at Cape Palliser but this was temporarily closed due to a recent rock slide. So it was just a brief stop there before driving along the coast to the Cape Palliser Lighthouse. This 30 minute coastal pathway drive provided some of the most spectacular scenery and reminded us of the dramatic landscape we’d experienced last year in Iceland. We were also rewarded with a rather active display from some young seals in a seal colony along the way. After some hesitation about the safety of this drive I would now highly recommend you take this journey if you’re ever in the area.

It was near 3.30 pm by the time we made it to our room at The Bolton Hotel, after switching from our earlier booking at the Intercontinental Hotel. The latter was undergoing renovations and had downgraded our rooms prior to our check in so we decided to cut our losses early and switch accommodation. Our room change ended up being a bit of an improvement as it meant we had a two bedroom suite (both King beds) with a kitchenette and washing machine. Brett will be pleased to know that one of the first things we did was put on a load of washing. We then had dinner at a nearby Vietnamese place, that was ok, and then it was an early night for us all. We did have to get some help from the hotel technician, William, when the air conditioning vent in the second bedroom was found to be venting hot air. Luckily, William was able to change the faulty part and restore cool to the very hot suite.

 

 

Wed 19^th Feb

‘Windy Wellington’ lived up to its reputation today except it was windy, wild and wet. We couldn’t really complain though because we’d had such a run of spectacular weather but it was a bit unfortunate as it made our 2 ¹/₂ hour walking tour a little bit unpleasant.

Our guide for the walk was, Stephen, a local of Wellington and he took us from down near the Museum and ended up near the Parliament buildings. The four of us found it very interesting but we all waned a bit after the advertised 2.5 hrs and then begged off a bit after that. We all agree that if a walking tour is going to endure for 3 hours it should come with a short break at the half way mark. There were a number of interesting pieces of information we picked up along the way though:

• The waterfront warehouses were gifted to city by the Wellington Harbour Board in the 1980s as the use of containers made their need redundant
• Wellington is still suffering from earthquake damage that caused the Christchurch earthquake
• Wellington is windy due to its 40 degrees latitude and its location on the edge between two large land masses. Recall your geography lessons about the ‘The Roaring Forties’. You get to live the experience when in Wellington!
• There is very little flat land in Wellington hence there is no large industry. It is more of a bureaucratic city.
• Wellington Cable car: this was developed to more easily access the higher flat land that was more suitable for residential development
• It was only in 2003 when the UK deemed that New Zealand could have their own Supreme Court!
• Land tax rates have declined over the last 3 years due to WFH and earthquake risk.

 

It was 2.30 pm by the time we all regrouped for a rest back at the hotel and almost 5 pm before we set out again. We walked down towards the popular shopping area of  Willis St to check out the scene and then on to Cuba Street to find somewhere for a drink and then for dinner. We didn’t have anything booked which was a problem but ended up at an Italian place, 1154 Pastaria, that was nice. A word of advice: book your dinner venue the night before!

Unfortunately for us, we returned to our suite to find that hot air was once again venting in the second bedroom but it was too late in the day for William to be able to help. The night manager and his assistant managed to sort the issue temporarily but it looks like we will be meeting up with William again tomorrow.

 

 

Thurs 20^th Feb

It was with some amazement and delight that we woke to find that the sky was blue, there were no clouds and there was little evidence of any wind. This made for a much more pleasant bike ride for the boys and morning walk for Colleen and myself. We chose the harbourfront for our walk and it was amazing to experience this in the beautiful sunshine, compared to yesterday’s wind and rain. It was glorious!

The boys came back from their bike ride and mentioned how beautiful the scenery was for their ride and suggested we take a drive this morning to retrace the route so that us girls could share the experience. We set off just after 9 am and drove the coast road around Wellington through Oriental Bay, on to Scorching Bay Beach and beyond. We all have a newfound appreciation for Wellington as the area was remarkably beautiful. We had a 3-hour tour booked for the afternoon that would retrace some of the same path but we were happy to do so. I’m sure the sunshine and blue sky was contributing to our joy as it was glorious weather for sight seeing and enjoying the beauty of the Wellington coastline.

Our afternoon Discover Wellington tour was great. Our guide, Marc, was a larger-than-life personality with a dry and quick wit who originated from France but had lived in New Zealand for the last 25 years. He’d previously worked for 20 years in visual effects with Wheta digital, the largest / most prestigious such firm in the world, but got sick of working behind a computer and hence his transition to tourism some 5 years ago. He was a delightfully entertaining character that we were lucky to have taking us around the city for a few hours. We’re not sure that he knew a whole lot but he certainly kept everyone engaged! To be fair, I think his strength would be on movie-related tours that their company also run. On that he was extremely knowledgeable and well informed. Some things we did learn from Marc included:  that:

• Wellington has 170 days overall where the wind range is 40-110 km/hr.  The Daily average range is: 35-40 km/ hr
• Wellington is known as the ‘Graveyard of Umbrellas’
• Wellington is the windiest city in world and has a population of just 220,000 
• Oriental Bay: the most expensive area of Wellington. Was previously were whales were slaughtered.
• The city was named after the Duke of Wellington. Why?
• Wellington has 15,000 earthquakes per year. They feel about 25 of them.
• The water looks lovely but it’s only 14 degrees. The glacial flour is clearly at work in the water around Wellington giving it the most beautiful blue coloring 
• Miramar, a suburb in Wellington, used to be a working class area. Since Lord of the Rings, Peter Jackson has rejuvenated the area and put the place on the map and it is now a very desirable area to live
• Avatar entirely filmed in Miramar. It was then that Miramar became a ‘movie suburb’: King Kong. The Hobbit. Lord of the Rings, all filmed there
• 5,000 people in Wellington work in movies
• Wheta Cave: showcases all the props made for movies. Employs 500. They make props for all over the world
• Tourism to Wellington increased 800% after The Lord of the Rings series
• Main industries: NZ: Milk dairy. Lamb/ beef. Tourism. Forestry. Movie industry
• Wellington airport has the shortest runway of any capital city in the world.
• Wellington sign was going to be ‘Wellywood.’ The soccer ball symbol was included due to FIFA Women’s World Cup 2 years ago.
• The streetscape surrounding the New Zealand CBD and waterfront is rather similar to that of San Francisco and, interestingly, New Zealand supplied all the timber for the San Francisco rebuild after their 1906 earthquake and fire
• Peter Jackson purchased a large section of the Miramar Peninsula, at a huge cost of about $500 million,  to prevent a large waterfront section of it from being developed into an apartment complex. He then gifted this land back to the local Māori tribe. Peter Jackson sounds like a very nice guy!

We got Marc to drop as back at the Wellington Museum after our tour where we spent about 90 minutes. The ANZAC exhibit was one of the best we’d ever experienced and I’d recommend a visit if you’re ever in Wellington. This would be something better undertaken in the morning as we found we were all a bit too tired from our big day to give sufficient focus to all that was on display. We left the museum just before closing and went on to the Fox and Glove for a drink and then to Dockside Restaurant and Bar for dinner which was ok. It had been a very full day and we were all exhausted so we headed back to the hotel. We did all think that we could of had a least another day, possibly two, to explore further around Wellington. We hadn’t walked through the Botanical Gardens and I would have liked to do more of a walk around the waterfront of Oriental Bay.

 

 

We had greatly enjoyed our time in Wellington and realised we were very lucky to have had such warm and sunny weather, albeit a bit windy, for two of our three days. We also appreciated having a hotel suite with a kitchenette and a washing machine. Our hotel, The Bolton, was advertised as being 5* but Mark and I think it just managed to punch out 4*. The location of our hotel, and the next door Sofitel, was not really the best pick for tourists. Being located near the Parliament and the law Courts, it was more of a business area and the clue should’ve been that there were a huge number of nearby cafes, that all closed in the early afternoon, and very few restaurants. The location of the Intercontinental Hotel would’ve been much more suitable for us. My recommendation, for anyone thinking of coming and staying in Wellington, is to choose the area closer to Lambton Quay and to where the Museum is located and even consider further around towards Oriental Bay. If coming back, I’d like to stay here, but for now we’re heading home.