13 – 17 February 2018

To complete our tour of New Zealand’s North Island we spent several days in the country’s capital, Wellington. Wellington is the second largest city, however at about 417,000 residents it is much smaller than flagship Auckland.

Located on the southwestern tip of North Island, Wellington is a center of government, business, and shipping. And wiith the success of filmmaker Peter Jackson, his studios in the Miramar neighborhood have added the nickname ‘Wellywood’.

We know it better as ‘Windy Welly’. We heard it was windy but had no idea just how true that was. Wind whipped through the city all day and night with gusts that almost stopped me in my tracks. It is the windiest city in the world based on annual average wind speed.

We toured the city by foot. It is small enough but the changes in elevation make it tougher than it looks on a map. The city starts at the shoreline and expands up the mountains. Some of our favorite places to visit were the wharfs on Lambton Harbour, Parliament, Mount Victoria, The Great War Exhibition, Te Papa, and the Cable Cars.

City Center

Parliament Buildings

Old St. Pauls

Botanical Gardens

Chinese New Year on Cuba Street