After our stay at Tongariro National Park where I completed the 12 mile alpine crossing, we headed to our next destination on the west coast of the North Island; Wanganui (also spelt Whanganui). We only stayed for a single night but still felt a little stuck for things to do. The main attraction is the Wanganui River, but the murky brown was far less appealing than the vivid blues of the Waikato River that we enjoyed a few days earlier in Taupo. So Wanganui was more of a pit-stop than anything else as we worked our way further south.
The following day we pressed on to our next proper stop (stop number 10 in fact) – Wellington, the capital of New Zealand, right at the foot of the North Island. This was a three night stay, arriving on the 9th Jan and leaving on the 12th, and was our final destination in New Zealand’s north island!
Wellington is small as far as capitals go, but is completed surrounded by some breathtaking scenery in the form of the Pacific Ocean and vast hilly forest – a quite unusual backdrop when you consider that you’re in a busy city environment.
The city itself is nice on the eye in most places, looks very well kept and has some very nice looking cafés, bars and restaurants, all built around a picturesque harbour that offers some great views. An added bonus is Oriental Bay, a small but pleasant beach literally right next to the city centre. The water is stunning once again with it being on the Pacific side, extremely clear up close and brilliantly blue from afar.
The outer Wellington region is made up of smaller towns and cities including the Hutt Valley (made up of Lower Hutt and Upper Hutt). We stayed in Lower Hutt which is a 10-15 minute drive from the city – this is about the best you’ll get in terms of proximity if you’re looking for holiday parks. It was a bit of an industrial area but the holiday park managed to seclude itself from this a bit so it didn’t feel like it – thanks in part to the breathtaking landscapes that formed the backdrop.
We spent a lot of our time driving around the city and the surrounding areas – Eastbourne is lovely if you get the chance to visit (just a little further out of the city than Lower Hutt) – it was quite surprising how quickly you could go from a bustling city to a relatively quiet coastal drive!
On our first full day we decided to try out the famous Wellington Cable Car; an old style tram that has been operating for a LONG time. It takes you on a very short journey as it makes its way up a steep, straight climb, going from the city centre up to some large and picturesque gardens. The tram ride isn’t very exciting, but it’s something you can’t really walk away from Welly without doing – and the views from the top are fantastic.
From there we drove slightly out of the city centre and up to the top of Mt Victoria, which offers exceptional panoramic views of Wellington in all directions. This is an absolute must do if you visit, as the drive (or walk if you prefer) is a nice one as you make your way further and further up, the view getting better and better as you go. And of course, it’s free!
The following day we checked out a couple of museum type places, both of which were free which was rather pleasing as we’ve been eating through our money at a pretty frightening pace so far! The first was the Weta Cave, a name that does not suggest the nature of the place in any way!
The Weta Cave is a showcase for the work of the internationally renowned visual effects company, Weta Digital. I wasn’t sure what to expect before we went but I was absolutely blown away by their work when we arrived. They have evolved into a company that basically does everything to do with film effects that can’t be achieved by simply pointing a camera at something and filming it. From conceptual work for fantasy worlds to prop design/creation to complex digital animation and effects, they do it all.
Their most famous work was done for The Lord of the Rings trilogy, but more recently they have had a slew of gigantic film production teams seeking their exceptional talents and expertise, including Avatar, The Hobbit, District 9, King Kong and others. They have also recently created a full, feature length animated film in the form of the upcoming Tintin movie.
On display they had some of their miniatures and props that they created for conceptual purposes, as well as a few full scale models of Gandalf and the like – it was all quite impressive. It’s very small but we also got to watch a 25 minute video all about what they do which was completely fascinating. The complexity behind some of the digital effects is mindblowing and conversely, the simplicity behind some of the film scenes that were entirely shot using just miniatures is just as mind-bogglingly brilliant. It really is a fantastic showcase of raw talent and it was great to learn about how they started as a small New Zealand creative company and now they are regular contributors to Hollywood’s biggest projects. If you appreciate good design, animation, film or media then you will definitely enjoy the Weta Cave. For 20 bucks you can even go behind the scenes and have a tour of the workshop.
Moving on, our next stop was Wellington’s flagship museum; The Museum of New Zealand. Unsurprisingly, it was very similar to Auckland’s museum, so we didn’t see too much of genuine interest. For free admission though you can’t go wrong! There was a small earthquake simulator type thing which was pretty cool and one of the main draws; a gigantic colossal squid!
To end our afternoon in the city, we headed to a very special bar! The only Welsh bar in the Southern Hemisphere no less! It was pretty damn cool – the walls and ceilings were absolutely covered in welsh flags and scarves inside. I just wish our visit could have clashed with a welsh rugby match… it would have been absolutely manic in there no doubt. The owner is a very friendly guy called Mike who hails from Swansea. I got some inevitable stick for being from Newport, but we had a long chat with him and he was a very sound guy. It was interesting that he’d been in New Zealand for 26 years, but claimed to be really homesick at the moment – I guess you never really lose sense of where home is.
The next morning, it was time to say farewell to New Zealand’s north island where we had spent the previous 10 months as we headed to the Interislander ferry which took us (and Tommy the campervan of course) from Wellington to Picton.
As we approached the South Island, the views were absolutely stunning as the ferry made its way through the Marlborough Sounds before arriving at the terminal in Picton.
After the 3 hour ferry journey, we then had another 2 hour drive to our next destination; Kaikoura, just a little down the east coast. This is where we are as I write this post. We love it here and we had a big treat as we were approaching the town on the first day… but that’s for another post! Check back soon for more on Kaikoura!