Wellington New Zealand

Perched in the hills surrounding a sparkling bay, Wellington’s beautiful setting and the crispy weather is akin to that of San Francisco. Charming Edwardian architecture complements an impressive and contemporary skyline of concrete and glass. Hidden laneways are full of street art and there is a sculpture walk along the waterfront. New Zealand’s capital has a reputation for being wet and windy on a regular basis.

We took a Friday morning highlight tour of the city driving the waterfront (the 7 sisters like the painted Lady’s) and climbing to the top of Mt. Victoria for an eagle eye view of the city, the rose garden at the Botanic Garden, passing public buildings (the Beehive and Parliament) and Edwardian architecture to Te Papa Tongarewa – Museum of New Zealand.

On Friday night we went to Lambton Quay for a walk down the towns upper end shopping and dining area (unbelievably the stores closed at 6:00) interestingly we saw the Old Government Building which was made of wood but clearly looks like stone.

On Saturday morning we took the Wellington Cable Car to the mountain suburbs overlooking downtown and it’s Cable Car Museum. Our final stop was a walk through Otati-Wilton Bush public botanic garden dedicated solely to New Zealand plants. The are 100 hectares of forest made up of old growth and regenerated forest which can be seen from a canopy walk and a nature trail. Its native botanic garden contains a plant collection of nearly 1200 species.