Wellington Renbaan (Wellington Racetrack), Ostende

Advantages: Well planned for families
Disadvantages: On a hill so be fit

...Set on a hill overlooking Wellington's suburbs is an ideal home for a wide range of animals, birds, fish and even the shy, flightless kiwi, the nation's treasured, nocturnal bird. There's an obvious focus on providing a natural environment for the animals with plenty of trees and other relevant features which the animals would enjoy in the wild. While the `residents' are presented in the best condition for public enjoyment and education you can see that staff and management concentrate hugely on animal welfare and stimulation. I've read some of the enterprising breeding programmes which go on at Wellington Zoo and this augurs well for some of the species which need a little help from man. I've taken my children and grandchildren to Wellington Zoo and over the years it has improved hugely. They've all loved the little... Read review

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Advantages: Great place for all!
Disadvantages: Windy is the name!

...When you ask people what the capital of New Zealand is, they’ll probably say Auckland. Yes… Wellington is the capital of New Zealand. You can feast yourself by visiting the ‘Beehive’, (Government buildings), and even listen in to the local politicians. It’s not as extravagant as the House of Lords, however- it’s still a ‘debate’, even if you can’t join in! From Wellington you can catch the ferry to Picton, there’s three ships that sail and it doesn’t take very long to get across. Dolphins normally accompany you if it isn’t too windy. When I say windy, wellington has been given the name ‘Windy Wellington’ by the locals, because it's always windy! One of the most famous peices of history for Wellington is the sinking of the Wahine ship... Read review

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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.

...******Reason for "average" rating****** I'd like to say that I quite enjoyed my visit to Wellington - but I'm an old(ish) fart. This Review is very much written from the viewpoint of a young person - who would find the place boring! *****The Arrival**** After a hair raising, but fun, landing at the local airport (the plane has to land in very windy conditions just above the sea and rocks) we found the main terminal building nearly deserted - even though it was the middle of the day. We managed to get a local taxi into the main tourist information centre in the city. The taxi journey only took 10 minutes and wasn't expensive. You may want to think about booking accommodation in advance. We really struggled to get something for 5 of us and the tourist information centre closes at 5pm - we arrived at 4.50pm. The "3 star... Read review

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