Wellington, your springboard to a central north island quest.

Windy Wellington is perched on the hills surrounding Wellington Harbour at the bottom of New Zealand’s North Island. The country’s capital, Wellington is a scenic place with an easily walkable city centre, full of many of New Zealand’s arts and cultural attractions. A vibrant urban atmosphere in the CBD belies the wonderful natural attractions just a short drive away.

The city’s CBD is based around the comings and goings of Lambton Harbour, the main port area. The waterfront is home to parks, numerous cafes and restaurants, walking paths, an indoor sports and exhibitions arena, and Te Papa, New Zealand’s interactive national museum and art gallery. Te Papa tells the story of New Zealand’s cultural and natural history. New Zealand’s parliament building is just to the north of here. The city centre is very concentrated due to the hilly nature of the region, allowing it to be easily explored on foot- and a cable car climbs the hills for access to the higher city suburbs and the Botanical Gardens.

Unlike the normal city sprawl pattern, the hills around Wellington mean that its outer suburbs are quite detached and culturally separate from the city centre. Eastbourne on the eastern shore is a beachy suburb reachable from the CBD by road or by ferry. Petone and the cities in the Hutt Valley are largely lower-income commuter suburbs strung along the Hutt River and Wainuiomata is a close-knit community in a bowl surrounded by mountains. Other suburbs are strung around the harbour and along State Highways One and Two.

Once you venture out of Wellington, the entirety of the North Island lies to the north to be explored. Alternatively, you can take one of the car ferries with multiple daily sailings across to Picton in the South Island. A Wellington pick up leaves your options wide open!