A Quick Look at Wellington City through the Camera Lens

Caption: Wellington airport giant Gollum from Lord Of The Rings was installed in the restaurant area by Weta – Lord of the Rings directed by Peter Jackson.

A Quick Look at Wellington City through the Camera Lens

Wellington City is one of the few places in New Zealand where you can live very comfortably without the need for a car. The other is central Auckland.

Everything you could need like shops, banks, public transport, entertainment, theatres, museums like Te Papa, restaurants cafes, the Kilburnie Cable Car, Parliament Buildings, Art Galleries, the “Cake Tin” rugby ground, Wellington Zoo, and much more, most are within easy walking distance.

There is a long tradition of apartment ownership in Wellington, New Zealand’s capital city, especially by “out-of-towners” seeking to avoid the strain of long-distance commuting. There are high-rise apartment buildings everywhere in the city.

To cater for the needs of its 200,000 residents, and a large number of daily commuters, Wellington City has many eateries, plenty of which are very good and quite inexpensive. There are so many food places that you could easily live in a central city apartment without installing a stove or even a refrigerator! There are cafes everywhere.

Real estate values are high in central Wellington. The city is surrounded by hills and the sea. Large numbers of the city’s workers commute by rail from dormitory suburbs and towns further north.

My overall impression of central Wellington is that the place is awash with money. There are huge numbers of smart clothing shops and boutiques catering for well-paid office staff who work in a myriad of “head office” buildings and government departments. There must be more coffee shops per square kilometre in central Wellington than anywhere else in New Zealand.

So exciting is the city of Wellington that it attracts many domestic New Zealand tourists headed there for a great little holiday at any time of year. There are always festivals and events on in the city like the Wearable Art show, formerly held in Nelson.

Be sure to check out the New Zealand Dominion Museum which is currently hosting The Great War Exhibition, created by Sir Peter Jackson. This just amazing to see and will change your whole perception of stuffy old museums.

Peter Jackson, filmmaker and beloved son of Wellington is held in high esteem. Wellington is something of a motion picture hub. It is not unusual for central city streets to be closed off now and again while camera crews shoot movie scenes.

Often called the windy city and for good reason, Wellington has a surprisingly temperate sunny climate. On the days I have been there it has nearly always been sunny and warm which I wasn’t expecting. There are many walking and mountain biking tracks in Wellington. The waterfront especially is abuzz with lunchtime runners. With the city so compressed, almost 20,000 residents walk or run to work each day.

It might seem strange to many Kiwis but you really should consider a short holiday in Wellington. You won’t be disappointed. More about Wellington at the Wellington Resource Hub.

John Plimmer and his little dog Fritz sculpture.

This website has the Top 10 Wellington must-dos.

Other New Zealand Photo Galleries you may enjoy:

Canvastown, Trout Hotel and Wakamarina Valley Gold Rush – Marlborough Canvastown and Wakamarina Valley are interesting places to explore during a day trip or extended holiday, old gold workings, camping, swimming and trout fishing.

Christchurch Before and After the Earthquakes One of my most enduring memories of those terrible days was the powerful sense of community spirit and the willingness of total strangers to pitch in and help others in any way they could.

Wellington Central – A Quick Look at Wellington City through the Camera Lens Central Wellington is one of the few places in New Zealand where you could live quite happily without the need to own a car. Everything is within easy walking distance. If you do need to go a bit further the bus and train service is excellent.