Overview

We found Wellington well worth 3 nights. It’s a very attractive town, on the water, and has a nice “feel” to it.

Highlights to us:

• The Ohtel we stayed on is right on the water, nice location
• Charley Noble, a steakhouse on the water, was one of the best meals we had in NZ, maybe some of the best steaks we’ve ever had. Grass fed yum.
• The Te Papa museum is very rewarding. Some of the Maori exhibits are incredible, and the Gallipoli exhibit, complete with WETA-made huge soldiers, was riveting.
• Zealandia is a place very near downtown that is fenced-in and protected to try to make it as close to pre-human NZ as is possible. We did a night tour and saw kiwi and tuatara — really neat experience.
• We did a half-day Lord of the Rings tour, great if you’re into it.
• Per wine section above, we found Martinborough a lovely day trip for nice Pinot and a nice experience.

What We Did

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Where We Stayed

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Food & Dining

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Practical Tips

• Getting there
• Getting around
• What to bring
• Best time to visit

At Te Pape museum in Wellington is a riveting exhibit commemorating the World War 1 Battle of Gallipoli. It features 8 hyper-realistic figures crafted by WETA workshop (the geniuses behind most of the Lord of the Rings Special Effects). It's hard to convey how huge this is -- it's about 2.5x normal size.

Maori statue, Te Pape museum

Zealandia is a wonderful park on the outskirts of Wellington. It features many New Zealand animals, including the Tuatara. The Tuatara is the only extant member of a branch of the reptile tree that disappeared tens of millions of years ago .... everywhere but New Zealand.

View of Wellington Harbor from Mount Victoria Lookout.

Officially called "Solace in the Wind", this statue overlooks Wellington Harbor. It is more commonly known as "Naked Man", which ... is memorable.