Graham and I honeymooned in New Zealand last month, visiting both the North and South Islands. Our tour through the North Island is outlined in my last post. Once we’d finished in Rotorua, we flew into New Zealand’s capital city: Wellington, to see friends and check out the city that my parents once told me was “probably where I should be living”.
Downtown Wellington
Wellington is located at the Southern tip of the North Island. It is built along a protected harbor with houses climbing up the slopes surrounding it. It’s truly gorgeous and, apparently, very windy. Though the days we were there were absolutely perfect.
There is a single road that runs along the shoreline, heading into and out of downtown with a wide walking and biking path next to it. In the morning, a lot of people take advantage of the outdoor exercise opportunities from running to swimming in the bay to kayaking.
We probably had the most fun in Wellington because we had a pair of friends, Mike & Tracy, who graciously showed us around. Our first afternoon, we wandered into the Te Papa museum (Museum of New Zealand). It was an incredibly well-done (and free!) museum with a lot of Māori history, New Zealand artifacts, and a giant squid.
There is also an earthquake simulator, which allows you to feel what an earthquake is like if you live somewhere (like Wisconsin) that never has them. Between earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanoes, one wonders how New Zealand still exists, but we were not deterred from dreaming about moving there.
Wellington Cable Car
Right behind our hotel, we were able to catch a cable car to the top of one of Mt. Victoria. It’s a commuter car, so some people were just taking it to work while others were tourists like us. At the top, you can see all of Wellington and tour a large botanic garden. This was an unexpected treat.
Food in New Zealand
We found the food in Wellington and all over New Zealand to be really good. As an island, anything they import gets expensive, so New Zealanders seem to make a lot of food locally. The delicious chips they had everywhere? Made in New Zealand. The snacking carrots I bought at the grocery store? Grown in New Zealand. Even the insanely-named “Pineapple Lumps” were from Australia. The food in nice restaurants was sourced nearby. One night we ate at a restaurant that didn’t have their tuna dish because the local fishermen just hadn’t caught any lately.
The seafood is amazing, of course. The restaurants we went to in Wellington had gorgeous bay views. We ate at Dockside for dinner and a wonderful seaside place called Scorch-O-rama for lunch the next day. If you were eating outside, chances are that the restaurant would lend you sunscreen and a hat. The sun in New Zealand is really intense. After all, they’re pretty close to the site of the hole in the ozone layer we were all worried about thirty years ago.
Weta Workshop
The morning before we flew to the South Island, Mike & Tracy took us on a Weta Workshop tour. This is the company that did a lot of the props for Lord of the Rings as well as dozens of other movies. We got to learn how dwarf helmets were made, saw Sauron’s outfit, and learned how to make sculptures out of tin foil. There was room after room of props, which was way more interesting that I ever thought possible.
It’s an understatement to say that we were very sad to leave Wellington. But, we had a fantastic time and can’t wait to get back someday!
