I'm an American, living in New Zealand. I love to travel, though New York will always be my home.
I'm an American, living in New Zealand. I love to travel, though New York will always be my home.
Member since:01.03.2003
Reviews:10
Members who trust:7
Ahhh, Wellington. I have lived here for almost a full year now, and think I may have settled in for what will be another year or so of being a pseudo-Wellingtonian.
New Zealand is a beautiful country, where you will find every kind of climate and bit of scenery you can imagine, smushed into a tiny country. Wellington fits this profile quite well. Built aside a natural harbour, the size of the city increased by a bit in 1840 when an earthquake rattled it. They have markers on the sidewalks to show you where the old shoreline was. Cute, eh? Yeah, there are a lot of cute things about this city. In Cuba Mall (a street that has been pedestrianised) there is a giant Tuatara (lizard) for kids to play on and a water feature that is made up of buckets (that look like sugar scoops) that dump water into eachother randomly.
Wellington's Maori name is Poneke, which is the mouth of the big fish that Maui, a demigod, pulled up out of the sea and turned into the North Island.
Wellington is the Capital of New Zealand, and the political goings on are held at the Parliament (an old and gorgeous stone building) and it's little brother, the Beehive (THE ugliest thing I have ever seen - It actually LOOKS like a beehive!)
Wellington is also home of the National Museum, Te Papa (meaning: Our Place) which currently has a Lord of the Rings exhibit showing. Speaking of the Lord of the Rings, Wellington is going to be the home of the 2003 World Premiere! So exciting!
There are many things to do in Wellington during the day, such as riding the cable car up to the beautiful botanical gardens, visiting Civic Square and marvelling over the giant ball of Silver Fern that floats overhead, taking a walk (and eating a lot of seafood - try the mussels!) on Queen's Wharf, (speaking of the Queen...she stayed at the Hotel Waterloo in Wellington, which is now a really creepy green backpackers!), seeing the ugly architecture, as well as the old wooden buildings (One being the 2nd biggest in the world - A temple in Japan being the first). You can also climb Mount Victoria (amazing views) check out Oriental bay, go visit my University (Victoria University of Wellington), take a ride out to the Kapiti Coast, catch the ferry to Eastbourne, or the InterIslander Ferries to the South Island.
Wellington also is quite lively after dark. There are many pubs and clubs and coffee houses that stay packed until the wee hours of the morning. After drinking a bit too much, you'll probably be hungry..but unless you always want a Turkish Kebab at this point you're pretty much out of luck.
Wellington is known for its wind. This is due to being at 41S Latitude, it is smack dab in the midst of the "roaring 40s" winds which whip in all directions and make it very hard to walk sometimes. On a light day, you only get blown around a little, on a high wind day, my advice is to avoid Molesworth St. You will not be able to walk too well at all!
I like Wellington for it's culture, vibe, and entertainment. I hate the wind, but I deal with it. The hills are a bit much for this New York Girl, but again...you deal with it, because the good outweighs the bad a million times over.
Come visit! Hostels are NZ$15-$20 per night and everything else is just as inexpensive (Car Hire: 40-60 NZ Dollars per day)!! It's a great place to do your working holiday! Your British Pounds are worth 3 times as much here!
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I'd love to be able to visit N.Z. but have not been able to afford it yet.
emsie25 05.03.2003 23:54
I never realised that the wind was so bad. I bet thats not great for your hair! Wind makes me look very scarey after it has messed with my hair and knotted it all! x
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Advantages: A nice looking, small city, easily explorable Disadvantages: Not much left to do after 2 days! Young people will be bored unless they like museums.
Advantages: A nice looking, small city, easily explorable Disadvantages: Not much left to do after 2 days! Young people will be bored unless they like museums.
Advantages: Lots to see and do, brilliant garden to explore outside. Plan for two half day visits to get most out of it. And its FREE. Disadvantages: On 2nd floor have to pay to 'experience' rides. Maori folk tale rather than scientific facts.
Mar 4th, 2003
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