Top Tourist Picks in Wellington

 

Travel life has certainly settled down in pace and living in Wellington has become like normal life.  I have been busy working, saving and using weekends to be a tourist in what now feels like my own city. Although it is definitely fun (and usually a great idea) to explore a place beyond its main tourist haunts, it has been refreshing to use my weekends to remind myself that I am actually still travelling and it doesn’t have to be all work and no play. Here’s a quick review of some of the places I have visited so far:

Zealandia

By far my favourite so far, Zealandia is definitely one to visit on a sunny day to spot all of the local native birds, which are surrounded by miles of protected bushland. It’s true that you can find hundreds of free tramp tracks in the Otari-Wilson bush, but if you are keen on seeing native birds, you can pretty much guarantee you will at Zealandia. If you do the night tour, you can see the kiwis too, which is next on my list.

Katherine Mansfield’s house

Who?! Yeah, no one seems to know – even locals. Apparently she was a children’s writer in the 1900s. You can look around the house she grew up in in Thorndon, before she moved to Europe. A sassy, feminist cool chick with one of the oldest houses you can see in New Zealand. I love browsing National Trust houses, so this was a fun visit. It doesn’t take long though, so it’s good if you only have an hour or so to spare.

Parliament Tour

A few of my local work friends did a fair amount of eye-rolling at this one due to its obviously touristy vibes. But it was actually a great way to spend an hour. The tour is free and bookable in advance. It takes you around the famous beehive, as well as the older brick-building wings. There’s a statue of Kate Sheppard, the lady who brought New Zealand women the vote, who is delightfully situated inside the building, over-looking a statue of Richard John Seddon?, the guy who tried to block the vote. I like to think she looks down on him from the spot.

Fruit and veg markets

Not exactly a sight to see, but definitely an experience. Wellington is famed for its great markets and you can find them every week on a Saturday and Sunday. My favourite is the Harbourside one because it is one of the biggest with lots of choice, but you can spot the cool Bowie mural from the Cuba Street market.

There are of course hundreds of other things to do, see and visit, but these are a good place to start if you want to see some of the city on a shoestring budget.