Where We Have Been - NZ - Wellington Region

The Wellington Region covers the southern end of the North Island, or the bottom of the island, as Kiwis are more likely to say. It is home to the nation’s capital, Wellington, and all its associated bureaucrats—which are not, in themselves, an attraction, despite being housed in a building affectionately known as the Beehive. Whether that nickname says more about the building’s shape or the amount of activity buzzing away inside is probably best left for others to decide.

Government aside, the region has more to offer than paperwork and policy announcements. It has rugged, bush-clad ranges, small rural towns, vineyards, and exposed, often isolated, wild coastlines.

The Beehive

If you are in Martinborough, it is well worth a detour south on the dead-end route towards Lake Ferry and carrying on around the coast to Cape Palliser Lighthouse, with its steep staircase and wild views from what is effectively the south-eastern corner of the North Island. The drive feels increasingly remote as you go, with rugged coastline, big skies, and Palliser Bay beside you. On the way, you pass a couple of places that are well worth stopping for:

First up there is Pūtangirua Pinnacles, a strange and dramatic landscape of eroded earth pillars, narrow gullies and dry stream channels carved by rain and runoff over thousands of years accessible right off the road. In places the formations close in around you, giving the feeling of a miniature canyon, with walls close enough to touch both sides at the same time. It’s one of those slightly otherworldly New Zealand places, and easy to understand why it was used as a filming location for The Lord of the Rings.

Cape Palliser Lighthouse and its Staircase

Rimutaka Range Road

Back on route to Wellington you will need to cross the Rimutakas. It’s one of those roads that reminds you there is no gentle way through this part of the country: the highway climbs, twists and folds its way over the range before opening out towards the Hutt Valley. During the First World War, this route also carried thousands of NZ soldiers between Featherston Military Camp and Trentham Camp, the three-day trek of 27 miles (43.5 km) over the range forming part of their training before heading overseas. The time it took relative to the distance covered just shows how hard a slog it must have been.

If you choose the route down the western side of the Tararua Forest Park, following SH1, you eventually find yourself dropping down Ngauranga Gorge, with Wellington City and Wellington Harbour opening out below. On a good day, it is quite a memorable way to arrive in New Zealand’s capital, with the city squeezed between the hills and the water.

One of those funny memories that shows our age is from a trip to Wellington to attend a Dire Straits concert (great music boring concert performance) at Athletic Park. We decided to try our first ever meal at McDonald’s, coincidentally at the original New Zealand restaurant in Porirua. At that time there were still only a handful of McDonald’s restaurants in the country, so it felt like something of a novelty. Needless to say, we were less than impressed by the gap between the burger in the advertising and the burger in reality. We looked at one another, abandoned the experiment, strolled across to KFC, and had the rest of our dinner there.

Entering Wellington via Ngauranga Gorge

Oriental Bay

Oriental Bay is the postcard version of Wellington: a curved city beach, apartments stacked along the hillside, people walking, running, swimming or pretending the wind is not as cold as it is.

It is also one of the best places to get that harbour-and-hills view that makes Wellington feel different from anywhere else in the country. The city does not sprawl gently away from the water so much as climb straight up from it, and Oriental Bay shows that off beautifully: blue harbour in front, green hills behind, houses and apartments tucked wherever they can find a foothold.

For a different kind of coast, head out to Lyall Bay, on the Cook Strait side of the city. It feels more exposed and working-beach than polished waterfront, with surfers, planes coming and going from the nearby airport, and weather that can arrive with real force. Brunch or coffee at the well-known Maranui Café, upstairs in the Maranui Surf Life Saving Club, is a very Wellington thing to do: slightly battered by the elements, but with a great view over the bay and across Cook Strait.

Maranui Cafe

The Hobbit Premier @ Embassy Theatre

Gollum @ Wellington Airport

Gallipoli: The Scale of Our War @ Te Papa

Wētā Workshop also created Gallipoli: The Scale of Our War, which is housed at Te Papa. The exhibition tells the First World War Gallipoli story through the experiences of ordinary New Zealanders, using huge, painstakingly detailed figures that make the human cost of the campaign hard to ignore. It is a moving display, one of the more memorable museum experiences in the city, and a good reminder that Wētā’s work is not limited to fantasy creatures and film props.

The awards list backs up the reputation. Wētā Workshop has, at time of writing, been recognised with five Academy Awards, four BAFTA Awards and more than 30 other national and international accolades. 

For us, the appeal is less about celebrity movie glamour and more about seeing world-class creative work being done from New Zealand. It makes you realise the country’s contribution to film is not just scenery and locations, but also design, fabrication, invention and craft at the highest level.