I am back from Wellington and it turned out to be a good trip. I now have my set of 10 Polaroids for the online exhibition and have duly passed on the Polaroid camera to Benji, so he can go about getting his set of 10 snaps. Back to the trip to Wellington - the idea for this particular post came when I was searching for 'things to do in Wellington in 2 days' but could not find anything online. So here is my attempt at doing Wellington on a budget.
I have the luxury of having a car here in Auckland, so instead of catching the Airport shuttle which would have cost me 30 bucks each way, I decided to use a 'park and fly' facility as that meant a substantial saving. There are a fair few facilities like that near the airport but I went with '
Aeroparks' as it was very reasonably priced. I was flying with Qantas but just before I went to bed the night before they rang me up saying that they had overbooked their flight and that they would pay for my transfer to an Air New Zealand flight that was leaving at the same time. The weather forecast for Wellington was bad for the 2 days I was there and the weather across the country for the past 2 weeks has been pretty bad as well, so in a way I was dreading spending 2 days in windy and rainy wellington.
Rising sun The flight was non-eventful for most part but the landing was pretty hairy because of the very strong south westerlies. Wellington is at the southern tip of the North Island and it is a wind tunnel of sorts because of the speed it picks up across Cook Strait, which gives it an average of 173 days in a year with winds blowing more than 60kph. Add to it the cold factor and it becomes pretty miserable. If you look at the photograph of the airport below you can see that there is no wind protection from either side and it gives you goose bumps when the wind rattles your plane around like a toy. Tip for the wise - wear lots of layerings of cloth and have a beanie, scarf and gloves handy as well.
Wellington AirportOnce in Wellington, instead of catching a Shuttle into the city, a cost-effective option is to catch the Airport Flyer 91 which runs every 20 minutes or so. You get out of the departures and walk towards the southern end of the terminal and you'll see signs pointing to the airport flyer stop. It costs about $6.50 to get from the airport into the city.
You know it is going to be a rough day when you overhear the locals say 'It's pretty windy and cold today, isn't it?'. I had 4 layers of clothing on my top and 2 layers of clothing on my legs and a scarf and a beanie and I could still feel the cold wind. The good thing though was it wasn't raining and the sun was out {even though you couldn't really feel it's heat}, so I was quitely optimistic that I would have a good day.
I got down at Courtenay Place and then walked all the way up to the Railway station. That gave me a chance to get my bearings on the city layout. I had booked myself in to
Downtown Backpackers and it was alright for a quick/short stay. I am sure that there are better backpackers around the city but I booked it as it was reasonably priced. The thing I did not like about the backpackers was that there was no vibe or life to it. I have stayed at better backpackers where you have better facilities to socialize and catch up with other travellers.
After putting my bag in a locker, I set out exploring the city. I stopped at an
iSite to get local maps and attractions and started mapping out a rough plan. First stop was catching a
Cable car to the top to check out the Cable Car Museum, the Botanical Gardens, the Rose Garden. The cable car is pretty reasonably priced and the entry to everything else that I listed is free, so I pretty much walked everything.
Wellington against the backdrop of the Cable Car
The run home
The Treehouse information center
Children walking through the Rose Garden
Very well looked after tree?I was slightly disappointed that the Carter Observatory was closed for rennovations but it was still an interesting walk through the gardens. The next stop was the Skyline Cafe just besides the cable car station and I ducked in for a quick cup of hot choclate before making my way down to Lambton Quay. There was a graduation ceremony going on at the University and I got this beautiful shot of a girl in her graduation gown waiting for the cable car.
Doors
Girl at the station
The cable car driverNext stop on my itinerary was a stop at the Parliament to take one of their free tours but I missed it by 15 minutes, so I walked to
Old St.Paul's which is this beautiful building. I walked in through the gates and I was kind of apprehensive going into the building as there was a hearse outside and the last thing I wanted to do was walk in on someone's funeral proceedings. Luckily it was all done with and everyone that had come to the funeral had retired to a corner of the building and were having food and drinks, which left me free to wander around and take a few snaps.
Victory
Old St. Paul's Cathedral
Katherine Mansfield's house is close by to Old St. Paul's but I decided to pay the beehive a visit as it was nearly time for the next tour that starts on the hour.
The Parliamentry tours are free to everyone and it was an intersting one hour learning about the political process and checking out the seat of power. The house wasn't in session, so the tour guide took us onto the floor of the house and that was an interesting experience as well. It is highly recommended if you have time to spare.
The BeehiveAfter the tour was finished, I saw that the rain was still holding out, so decided to walk up to Mt. Victoria lookout from where you can get a 360 degree view of Wellington. I took the hard track up to the top and it was a weird feeling - on one hand you are sweating from the exercise but on the other hand you are freezing from the icy cold winds blasting away at you. At the lookout it was super-windy and I spent 5 minutes taking some photos before making the quick descent back.
Wellington
Wellington has a lot going on for it despite the wind factor. It has some nice eating joints, nice cafes, an active theater and arts scene and best of all - it is walkable. If it wasn't so damn windy it would be a gem of a place to live. After the walk up to the Mt. Victoria lookout I definitely needed to warm up and I stopped by at Kaffee Eis on Courtenay Place, which one of my flatmates had recommended. I was tempted to try their famous ice creams but went for a hot drink instead. After spending the whole day walking in the cold wind I felt like being indoors for a bit, so I decided to watch a movie and checked out '
Religulous' at Paramount Cinemas - an art house cinema theatre. The movie I was watching was screening on one of their smaller screens that were made behind the main screen and it was like a home barn modified with plush seating and good sound system. It was weird but pleasant surprise - the not such pleasant surprise was the girl running the ticket counter - who was kind of edgy and not really that friendly. New Zealand still has a lot to learn about customer care/service.
By the time I came out of the movie it was night and I roamed around a bit checking out the various eating joints and had a quick bite to eat before retiring for the night since I didn't feel like going out for a drink. I had a chat with one of the other guys staying in the same dorm and he was an american student doing a semester in Dunedin. Ryan was from Nebraska and he was going up to do the Tongariro crossing the next day as he didn't want to loose out on the last chance to do it before going back to USA. I had forgotten to put any soap in my backpack and I didn't realize it till I was in my night dress. My plan was to drop into Les Mills {the gym I am a member of} and use their facilities since my membership is valid anywhere in the country.- Luckily for me Ryan was walking down to the supermarket and he was kind of enough to buy me a bar of soap, so I could take a shower the next day without implementing my elaborate plan to take a shower.
The second day started off at 6.30 in the morning and I got ready for another day in windy wellington. Since the backpackers I was staying at is bang opposite the railway station - i went in and took a few pics before wandering onto the water front where I got some stunning photos. One of the things I find is that if you live in the same city then sometimes you don't stop to appreciate the beauty because you are so used to it. Since it was rush hour, with people going about busily to work, I stood out like a sore thumb as I was in no rush to get anywhere and was happily snapping away the beautiful sights. I think I did manage to influence a few office goers to take a minute to see what I was taking photographs of. :-)
The railway station
Shadows and Light
On the Waterfront
Wellington Harbour
The public transportation in Wellington is pretty good and if you are a traveler, you can buy a 'Day Tripper' pass for $5 which gives you unlimited bus rides to anywhere in the city. I didn't know of it till later as the bus driver of the bus I was taking to the
'Weta Cave' in Miramar was new and didn't mention the day tripper pass - it was the return bus driver who told me about it. You basically catch Bus Route 2 from central city and get down at the corner of Camperdown road and walk 20 meters odd before you get to the 'cave'. Weta Cave is a mini-museum/shop that displays stuff made by Weta and it is a geek heaven of sorts. There is a documentary that screens there as well - which gives you a behind the scenes look at what all goes on behind the scenes at the company. It runs for about 20 minutes and is a quick look and I really would've liked to see a 40 minute version to get some more details but I guess that 20 minute is good to accommodate for the constant visitors who come to the cave. It is definitely worth a watch.
Gollum
My precious
More displays
Creature from 'Brain Dead'
The 'Weta Cave' screening room
After Weta Cave - I wanted to check out Karori Wildlife Sanctuary which is a 5 minute drive from central wellington. I asked around to see if I could walk there but the advise was to catch a bus since there was plenty of walking to do in the sanctuary itself. I caught Bus number 3 which dropped me off close to the Sanctuary and from there it is a 5 minute walk to the reception. The admission price of $14 is well worth the trip and I missed the tour by 10 minutes {the tour costs an additional $14 on top of the admission price}, so I was happy to roam about the sanctuary by myself. The tracks are extensive and it was just a wonderful experience listening to all kinds of birds and sometimes spotting them. I saw a total of 2 other people during my hour odd walk through the sanctuary and it was kind of surreal walking through the native bush. The sanctuary itself was very well maintained and looked after with good signs and information posts through out the trail. Oh and just so you are not scared - there is no 'dangerous' wildlife in New Zealand per se and it is pretty safe walking through the woods by yourself.
Pathway to an electric boat
Art installation in the middle of the sanctuary?
Spot to chill out and grab a bite to eat
The path rarely trodden
A native bird singing
The sanctuary
There is a night tour that is held everyday around 4.30 PM and I am told that it is well worth it - even though it costs slightly more than the normal tour. I wanted to do the tour but then I was catching up with Sebastian - a friend of mine who had recently moved down to Wellington, around 5.00 PM and that would've clashed with the tour. Maybe some other time. But a visit to the Wildlife santuary is a must if you are in Wellington.
After the nature walk, the plan was to go back into the city and then check out Te Papa - the museum of New Zealand. I wanted to catch the same bus number back into the city but another bus came before it and I promptly got onto it as I had the day tripper pass and I could somehow make my way to central city even if the bus dropped me close by. The bus went through Victoria University and it was interesting watching the students going about their business - it was just like any other educational institution anywhere else in the world. As the bus made it's way into the city an alleyway caught my eye and I promptly got out of the bus to take a snap of it. I didn't know where I was but I knew that I could find my way around even if I did get lost. As I was walking to the alleyway, I noticed a restaurant called 'KK Malaysian Restaurant' and I somehow thought that it might be related to the restaurant of the same name in Auckland, where I had eaten before {and whose food I loved}. I decided that I would have my lunch there and then I went about finding the alleyway - took the snap before returning to KK to eat.
The Alleyway
The restaurant was busy and when I asked for a table for one - they looked around and couldn't find anything. The host asked me if I minded sharing a table and I told them that I didn't as long as whoever I am sharing the table with didn't mind. So I was pointed to a table where I struck up a conversation with Julian - who was a political sciences student at the university. He was from Germany and on a scholarship studying in Wellington for a year. We had a good chat about different things ranging from politics to economy to general stuff. To top it off the food was delicious, the serving size was generous and the food was very reasonably priced. I would highly recommend the place based on my own taste preferences. While paying for the bill, I asked the host if they were anyway related to the restaurant in Auckland to which the host dissapointedly said no but then reassured me that I was not the first person to ask the same question. I parted ways with Julian and walked about till I found my bearings and walked over to Te Papa.
Te Papa had
the Colossal Squid on display and I never got past the first level of the museum. It was nice and warm and that started making me feel sleepy, so I decided to pass on the rest of the museum. You can easily spend an hour or so exploring the museum. I had been there once before briefly and I was definitely not feeling the museum love this time around. So I went around to Kaffee Eis and tried one of their famous ice creams - 2 scoops of it actually. I did get some really funny looks from people when I was walking around the main strip enjoying my ice cream. I guess the wind factor might have had something to do with it. :-)
I had another hour or so before catching up with Sebastian and I was feeling pretty tired from all the walking, so I decided to go to the backpackers and have a quick snooze. It definitely did me heaps of good as I felt refreshed and ready for the evening. I had trouble getting a hold of Sebastian, so I walked down to Courtenay Place and had a drink at one of the bars on the strip. While enjoying the drink, watching the world rush by, I heard back from Sebastian, who had left left his phone at home. We soon caught up for a couple of drinks, traded stories and then caught '
Defiance' at the local cinemas. During the movie one of the guys behind us started annoying me big time when he hadn't turned off his cellphone and decided to take the call in the middle of the movie. I got annoyed and turned around and told him to put his phone down - which he did but it is such selfish behaviour that it annoys the crap out of me. Funnily enough the guy disappeared from the cinema as soon as the movie ended - he didn't even wait for the credits to start rolling. I enjoyed the movie despite a slow and flawed start - Daniel Craig & Liev Schreiber & Jamie Bell were in top form.
After the movie I parted ways with Sebastian and went back to the backpackers for my final night in Wellington. I was in my bed when one of the new room mates came back. His name was Scotty and he was drunk and he was British. Those 2 things are not a good combination and he just wouldn't shut up. He was a chef by trade and he was going back to UK for 4 months for the peak tourist season there with a top catering company. When I told him that I worked in film & tv, he kept going on and on about how he can be an excellent front for a NZ Food TV show and he just kept going in a loop and started telling me how I should pitch the idea and why such a show would be a good idea. I tolerated it to a point and then snapped back and basically in an indirect way told him to shut up. I think he got the point because he did let me go back to bed. I am sure that he must be a top notch chef but with his personality I find it hard to imagine how he can be a good host. I did see him the next morning as I was about to catch the Airport Flyer back to Wellington Airport and he didn't seem any different personality wise - sober. I guess that's the charm of travelling - you meet interesting people - some of them whom you get along with and some who just annoy the crap out of you.
The flight back was uneventful - even though it was running slightly late and half the plane was full of talkative law graduates who had flown down to Wellington to collect their law degrees. I am glad to be back in Auckland where the wind doesn't have as much of a bite as in Wellington and where you can actually feel the sun. I enjoyed my trip thoroughly and there are a few more things I could've squeezed into my 2 days down there - mainly because most of the attractions and places are located within walking distance of each other and a lot of them are free to visit, but I am still happy that I managed to do this trip on a budget. There are heaps more things you can do if you have the money like tours, adventure activities etc. but ulitmately it depends on what kind of holiday you want it to be.
That's me for now. Hope this helps anyone wanting a quick overview of things to visit in Wellington in 2 days.
Till later,
Amit
