Wellington is located on the southwestern tip of the North Island between the Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. It has a mild marine climate and is considered the windiest city in the world by average wind speed.

Wellington got the status of the capital city of New Zealand in 1865. The city is home of the New Zealand Government and Parliament, the Supreme Court and most of the public service. Architectural monuments include The Old Government Buildings (one of the largest wooden buildings in the world) and iconic Beehive. It is home of several of the largest and oldest cultural institutions such as the National Archives, National Library and New Zealand Museum Te Papa Tongarewa.

During visiting the city, you can see different architectural styles over the past 150 years – from 19th-century wooden cottages to the present. The oldest building is Colonial Cottage from 1858 in Mount Cook. The Executive Wing of New Zealand Parliament Buildings at the corner of Lambton Quay and Molesworth Street was built between 1969 and 1981 and is called the Beehive.

Wellington is one of New Zealand’s main ports and serves both domestic and international shipping. In addition, ferries connect the city with the southern island.

Culture

The filmmakers Sir Peter Jackson, Sir Richard Taylor and a growing team of creative professionals have transformed the eastern suburbs of Miramar into an infrastructure centre for the production of films, postproduction and special effects, creating the so-called “Wellywood”. The latest films made in part or all in Wellington include the Lord of the Rings trilogy, King Kong and Avatar.

Wellington Sign in Hollywood style

Cuisine

Wellington has small restaurants and its café culture is internationally recognized. Restaurants offer European, Asian and Polynesian cuisine.

Arrival and our accommodation

Wellington Railway Station is located in the city centre, so we were looking for our accommodation nearby. The journey took about 15 minutes and our apartment was directly opposite the New Zealand Radio building.

In Wellington, we had planned a city tour, but above all a pick-up of the car in the car rental so we could continue on our way.

From Wellington to Stratford

Picking up the car went well and we were even lucky it was ready sooner and we didn’t have to wait. Since the dryer did not work in our apartment, the first stop was directed to the public laundry, where we picked up dry clothes in 40 minutes. In the meantime, we managed a snack (typical favourite pies) and then we could continue our journey.

Cherry Cottage Cupcakes

I have to admit that Martin and I like to discover nice cafes, and in the vast majority of cases, it happens that we discover the best by chance. When we needed to stop at the gas station on the way, I noticed that there should be a café around it… The cafe was closed, but on the contrary, we found this beautiful Cherry Cottage Cupcakes, which was not on the maps at all. Flat white was absolutely perfect and of course, we could not miss tasting cupcakes… Lemon and Chocolate Caramel ….. The final rating from all of us was: We never ate better cupcakes. They were really TOP! So if you will ever have a way around, don’t miss it 🙂