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With a fairly young population (in fact over ¾ of the population is from the ages 15-65), this bustling city is the center of not only New Zealand politics, but also most of its culture and arts.
Wellington has a bohemian nature, which welcomes diversity and creativity. Located right at the southern tip of the North Island, it also serves as the hub for traffic between the North and South Islands. Whether you're in Wellington for only several days or for a slightly longer stay, there is definitely something for everyone to enjoy during a visit to Wellington.
This week myself and a few friends attempted the walk up to the Mount Victoria look out in Wellington (or Mount Vic as it's known by the locals). I'll admit that we were a little bit unprepared and didn’t realise that it can be quite steep in some places. Luckily it was only a short walk, and it took us only about 40 minutes to reach the top.
Wellington is renowned for being the cultural and artistic hub of New Zealand and, given the relatively small population (for a capital city at least), there’s an astounding number of quality restaurants, cafés, bars, galleries, shops and theatres here. It is often said that there are more cafes and restaurants per capita than New York City. Now that either means NYC has a distinct lack of eateries (which there wasn't last time I looked!) or there are a bloody load of places to eat in Wellington!
Wellington has such a great and diverse range of bars to cater for everyone's needs! You can choose from karaoke bars, cocktail bars, craft bars and of course heaps of Irish bars where all the craic is! Here are my personal Top 5 bars in Wellington and ones that I think you should definitely check out when you visit New Zealands capital city.
Most people are in two minds about visiting a zoo and often have the attitude of “once you've seen one, you've seen them all'... some say that this is very WRONG! And that's certainly the case with Wellington Zoo, because Wellington Zoo is home to Mini Asia which is a $2m exhibition, showing the sun bears with Lions and tigers and bears!
Te Papa (translation; 'our place'), the National Museum of New Zealand is located in the city centre of Wellington. It is one of the must dos for the capital and as most museums in the country is free of entrance fees. Of course, donations are much appreciated and after spending some time in this building full of history, you may feel like contributing. Every little helps, said a wise man once!
With all the hype leading up to The Hobbit world premiere, it's hard not to get caught up in all the excitement! Cue YouTube-ing the film trailer fifty times, scouring the shops for dress-up pointy ears, and booking onto Lord of The Rings tours to obtain as much trivia as possible; just to be ready for November 28th!
Zealandia in Wellington is a fantastic example of how one idea can change the course of nature. It is a wildlife park like no other! Predators have been eradicated and exotic plant life removed to give New Zealand's endemic, and often endangered species, a chance to flourish.
Zealandia is made up of two parts; the exhibition and the park.
Wellington has an abundance number of museum that it will take you more that 1 or 2 days to visit. The love of history and art and ensuring that it is preserved and shared with everyone is definitely the main motivation that this city has all these amazing museums. Below are a few that are worth the time that you take when you visit Wellington:
