Sights in Wellington
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Te Papa
Te Papa is the city's 'must-see' attraction, and for reasons well beyond the fact that it's NZ's national museum. It's highly interactive, fun, and full of surprises. Aptly, ‘Te Papa Tongarewa’ loosely translates as ‘treasure box’. The riches inside include an amazing collection of Maori artefacts and the museum’s own colourful marae; natural history and environment exhibitions; Pacific and NZ history galleries; national art collection, and themed hands-on ‘discovery centres’ for children. Exhibitions occupy impressive gallery spaces with a high-tech twist (eg motion-simulator rides and a house shaking through an earthquake). Big-name, temporary exhibitions…
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Wellington Botanic Gardens
The hilly, 25-hectare botanic gardens can be almost effortlessly visited via a cable-car ride (nice bit of planning, eh?). They boast a tract of original native forest along with varied collections including a beaut rose garden and international plant collections. Add in fountains, a cheerful playground, sculptures, duck pond, cafe, magical city views and much more, and you’ve got a grand day out. The gardens are also accessible from the Centennial Entrance on Glenmore St (Karori bus 3).
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Dominion Post Ferry
Trips across the harbour to Days Bay are made on the Dominion Post Ferry, departing from Queens Wharf 11 times daily weekdays and six times daily at weekends. It's a 30-minute trip to Days Bay, where there are beaches, a fine park and a boatshed offering canoes and rowboats for hire. A 30-45 minute walk from Days Bay brings you to the pretty settlement of Eastbourne, with appealing cafes and picnic spots.
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Beehive
Office workers swarm around the distinctive and well-known modernist Beehive, which is exactly what it looks like, and forms part of NZ's parliamentary complex. It was designed by British architect Sir Basil Spence and built between 1969 and 1980. Controversy surrounded its construction and, love it or loathe it, it's the architectural symbol of the country.
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Katherine Mansfield’s Birthplace
Often compared to Chekhov and Maupassant, Katherine Mansfield is one of NZ’s most distinguished authors, born in 1888, and dying of tuberculosis in 1923 aged 34. She mixed with Europe’s most famous writers (DH Lawrence, TS Eliot, Virginia Woolf), and married the literary critic and author John Middleton Murry. Her short stories can be found in one volume, the Collected Stories of Katherine Mansfield. This house in Tinakori Rd is where she spent five years of her childhood, a lovely heritage home with exhibitions in her honour, including a biographical film.
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Carter Observatory
At the top of the Botanic Gardens, the Carter Observatory features a full-dome planetarium offering regular shows with virtual tours of the local skies; a multimedia display of Polynesian navigation, Maori cosmology and European explorers; and some of NZ’s finest telescopes and astronomical artefacts. Check the website for evening star-gazing times.
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Zealandia
This groundbreaking ecosanctuary is tucked in the hills about 2km west of town (bus 3 passes nearby, or see the Zealandia website for the free shuttle). Living wild within the fenced valley are more than 30 native bird species, including rare takahe, saddleback, hihi and kaka, as well as NZ’s most accessible wild population of tuatara and little spotted kiwi. An excellent exhibition relays NZ’s natural history and world-renowned conservation story. More than 30km of tracks can be explored and there's a daily tour (11.15am). The night tour provides an opportunity to spot nocturnal creatures including kiwi, frogs and glowworms (adult/child $76.50/36). Cafe and shop…
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Mediaplex
The innovative Mediaplex combines a film archive, library, cinema and research centre under one roof and has an extensive collection with over 90,000 titles of NZ film, TV and video dating from 1895 to this year's sitcom. From Wednesday to Saturday, the cinema shows treasures from the vault.
Highlighting Wellington's square-eye dedication to film and TV, Mediaplex is part of the New Zealand Film Archive, an organisation charged with collecting, protecting and projecting NZ's moving-image heritage.
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Wellington Zoo
Committed to conservation, research and rescuing wayward Antarctic penguins, Wellington Zoo is also home to a plethora of native and non-native wildlife, including lions and chimpanzees. The nocturnal house has kiwi and tuatara. Check the website for info on ‘close encounters’, which allow you to meet the big cats, red pandas and giraffes (for a fee). The zoo is 4km south of the city; catch bus 10 or 23.
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New Zealand Film Archive
The Film Archive is a veritable vortex of NZ moving images, into which you could well get sucked for days on end. Its library holds more than 150,000 titles spanning feature films, documentaries, short films, home movies, newsreels, TV programs and advertisements. There are regular screenings in the cinema ($8), as well as a viewing library (free) where you can ferret out and watch films until you’re square-eyed. Groovy on-site cafe.
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Museum of Wellington City & Sea
For an imaginative, interactive experience of Wellington’s social and salty maritime history, swing into the Museum of Wellington. Highlights include a moving documentary about the tragedy of the Wahine, and ancient Maori legends dramatically told using tiny hologram actors and special effects. The building itself is an old Bond Store dating from 1892.
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National Library of New Zealand
Putting 'exciting' and 'library' happily side by side in one sentence, the re-emerged National Library hosts public programs exploring the brainy side of the nation. There's a gallery, wi-fi and multimedia technology, pop-up displays and a cafe.
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City Gallery
Housed in the monumental old library in Civic Sq, Wellington’s much-loved City Gallery does a cracking job of securing acclaimed contemporary international exhibitions, as well as unearthing and supporting those at the forefront of the NZ scene. A jam-packed events calendar and excellent Nikau Gallery Cafe enhance endearment.
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Capital E
With ankle biters in tow, your best bet is a visit to colourful Capital E, an educational entertainment complex designed especially for kids. Expect interactive rotating exhibitions, children’s theatre and TV, readings, workshops and courses. Call or check the website for the events calendar and prices.
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New Zealand Cricket Museum
Cricket boffins will be bowled over by the historical memorabilia at the New Zealand Cricket Museum. Comprehensive displays cover the history and development of NZ cricket, including the sport’s arrival in the colonies and NZ’s first test match in 1894. The original 1743 Addington bat is a showstopper.
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Old St Paul’s
The last lick of paint was splashed on Old St Paul’s in 1866, and it still looks good-as-new from the outside. The striking interior is a stellar example of early English Gothic timberwork, with magnificent stained-glass windows and displays on Wellington’s early history.
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Cable Car Museum
The small-but-nifty Cable Car Museum tells the cable car’s story since it was built in 1902. Take the cable car back down the hill, or ramble down through the Botanic Gardens (a 30- to 60-minute walk, depending on your wend).
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Matiu-Somes Island
In the middle of Wellington harbour, Matiu Somes is a DOC-managed reserve where you might see weta, tuatara, kakariki and little blue penguins, among other critters. The island is rich in history, having once been a prisoner-of-war camp and quarantine station. Take a picnic lunch, or even stay overnight in the campsite (adult/child $10/5) or in the DOC house – book online at www.doc.govt.nz or at Wellington’s DOC visitor centre. It’s a 20- to 30-minute chug across the harbour. There are 16 sailings on weekdays, eight on Saturday and Sunday (return fare adult/child $22/11.50).
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Otari-Wilton’s Bush
About 3km west of the city is Otari-Wilton’s Bush, the only botanic gardens in NZ specialising in native flora. There are more than 1200 plant species here, including some of the city's oldest trees, as well as 11km of walking trails and delightful picnic areas. Bus 14 from the city passes the gates.
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National Tattoo Museum
The National Tattoo Museum has thousands of examples of tattoo art on show, including Maori moko (facial tattoos), traditional and contemporary tools, and a tattoo studio in case the urge strikes. For dedicated ink-lovers only.
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Archives New Zealand
The Archives New Zealand is the official guardian of NZ’s heritage documents. Inside are gallery displays of significant national treasures, including the original Treaty of Waitangi (p), NZ’s founding document.
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Weta Cave
Film buffs will enjoy the Weta Cave, a fun, mind-boggling mini-museum of the Academy Award–winning company that brought The Lord of the Rings, King Kong, The Adventures of Tintin and The Hobbit to life. It's 9km east of the city centre, a pleasant waterside bike ride or 20 minutes on the No 2 bus.
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Parliament House
The austere grey-and-cream Parliament House was completed in 1922. Free one-hour tours depart from the ground-floor foyer (arrive 15 minutes prior). Next door is the 1899 neo-Gothic Parliamentary Library building, as well as the modernist Beehive designed by British architect Sir Basil Spence and built between 1969 and 1980. Controversy surrounded its construction and – love it or loathe it – it's the architectural symbol of the country. Across the road are the Government Buildings, the largest wooden building in the southern hemisphere, doing a pretty good impersonation of stone.
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Academy Galleries
The showcase of the New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts, Academy Galleries presents frequently changing exhibitions by NZ artists.
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New Zealand Portrait Gallery
Housed in the historic waterfront Shed 11, this gallery presents New Zealanders through the eyes of painters, sculptors, illustrators and photographers.
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