Wellington

Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It's a harbour city nicknamed the Windy City. It advertises itself as "Absolutely Positively Wellington".

Understand

Wellington is not the largest city in New Zealand but is, for its inhabitants, undisputedly the best. While there is some friendly rivalry between the major cities, it is generally recognised that Wellington has a more interesting CBD and is not as spread out as Auckland.

If you want to hear what's happening in Wellington then student radio is good to listen to. Active 89FM

Get Around

Getting around the central city is easy on foot. The city is very compact.

There are also plenty of buses some of which are electric trolley buses. You can buy an all day central city bus pass for $1. If you take a bus trip into the city suburbs, it will cost you about two or three dollars.

The train is the best way to get between the city and the Hutt Valley or the city and Porirua. The easiest way to travel between the Hutt Valley and Porirua is to go by train via Wellington.

If you are driving into Wellington on the weekend, the Lombard Parking and the James Smith parking buildings are very central and free on the weekends.

Taxis cost $2 for flagfall plus $1.70 per kilometer. Executive Taxis has professional service and a larger cab at $1.80 per kilometer. There are sometimes budget taxis for cheaper rates. The taxi companies in Wellington aren't as useless as they are in other countries and they do tend to arrive more or less when expected.

See

• Mount Victoria. The best view of Wellington. It takes about an hour to walk up from Courtney Place. Many tourist buses go there but also a lot of the locals. Another challenge is to find the Mount Victoria bus tunnel and drive through it, skillfully avoiding the buses.
• Wrights Hill. More views, and WWII underground tunnels which are open to the public on public holidays for a small fee.
• Brooklyn Hill Windmill. Another great place to go to get an excellent view of the city, the harbour and Cook Strait.
• Massey Memorial An interesting place to go if you want to see a large memorial in the middle of nowhere.
• Frank Kitts Park. A great place to wander around, with inline skates and jet ski rental.
• Botanical Gardens are a nice place to go for a picnic. Karori cemetery (a.k.a. the dead centre of town) is also a great picnic spot. You can take the cable car from Lambton Quay but the cable car is really quite naff. The Caltex Towers building is next to the cable car and you can take the lift up to the Terrace and walk the rest of the way if you're feeling energetic and want to go to the top of the Botanical Gardens.
• Oriental Parade. A new beach. However if you're not from somewhere really cold it's unlikely that it'll be hot enough for you to be in desperate need for a swim. There is a spa pool (jacuzzi) in Fryberg Swimming pool (on Oriental Parade) which is inexpensive if you enjoy "people soup".
• Te Papa. The national museum. It's worth a look if you're a museum kind of person. Free. http://www.tepapa.govt.nz/
• Karori Wildlife Sanctuary . A wildlife park that used to be a water reservoir. It can be seen from above from Wrights Hill.

Do

• Circa Theatre. http://www.circa.co.nz/
• Bats Theatre. http://www.bats.co.nz/
• Downstage Theatre. http://www.downstage.co.nz/
• Beck's Incredible Film Festival. Incredibly strange, exploitation cinema and extra low budget movies.
• Festival of the Arts. February/March every two years. Next festival is 2004
• Comedy Festival.
• Fringe Festival.
• Lesbian and Gay Film Festival.

Eat

Wellington has a lot of restaurants and cafes. Malaysian food is surprisingly popular and available in most areas. You can also get good Lebanese kebabs anywhere in the city. Fish and chips is the best value food but you usually get better quality in the suburbs.

Malaysian:

• Cinta Malaysian Kitchen; 41 Courtenay Pl Wellington - try the chicken sambal or the beef rendang.
• Satay Village 58 Ghuznee St Wellington - these guys do a good curry laksa.
• Roti Chenai Cafe; Shop 5 120 Victoria St Wellington - very good Indian and Malaysian cuisine.

Cafes:

• Midnight Espresso - always open, and always has good coffee.
• Fidel's cafe - a popular destination for a dessert and a coffee.
• Expressoholic - centrally located but tends to have a lot of drunk people in the late evenings.

Lebanese kebabs:

• Kebabaholic - Manners Mall

Fish and Chips: Every suburb in Wellington has a good fish and chip shop. You just have to know which ones are the best.

• Northland Fish & Chip Shop; 57 Northland Rd Northland
• Dennis Fish Supply; 103 Randwick Rd Moera, Lower Hutt
• Calypso Fish & Chips; 5 Waiwhetu Rd Waiwhetu, Lower Hutt

Get out

The nearby Hutt Valley and Porirua have a number of interesting sights and beaches.

External links

• Wellington City Council
• What's On In Wellington