The cable car is definitely a must-do when you are in Wellington, because it offers such great views of the city, takes you to another part of the city you might not see otherwise, and is cheap! A return ticket is $3.60, or $2 if you have a student ID card. I personally thought, when I got to the top, that I should have bought a one-way ticket (half of the prices listed above), because you can always wander down through the Botanic Gardens, although it is a bit of a longer walk to the city than otherwise.

The cable car itself really fascinated me. Its terminus is behind the shops on Lambton Quay--there is a signposted walkway that takes you back into the station area, which is essentially a ticket office and a small platform, and rails leading at quite a slope up the hill. It makes sense that the cable car is designed the way it is--rather than being level, but at the same time making everyone sit at a slope for the duration of the trip, the inside is staggered, so to walk through the car is like walking up a flight of stairs. I haven't been on many cable cars, but I certainly haven't been on any like that!

There were a few stops on the way up, but I didn't really mind as the views were getting increasingly better all the time. I also got a glimpse of the university area that my friend was studying abroad in for the semester. At the top, there was a nice little shop and mini-museum that housed a few of the previous designs of the cable car, which included one where people sat on benches on the outside! I can imagine that would have been an interesting ride.

I then went to the main attraction of the cable car--the viewing platform. This offered absolutely amazing views of all of Wellington and the harbour. It was pretty cool to go up there after having been in Wellington for a few days, so I could actually pick out places I had been (including some pretty obvious ones, like the huge Te Papa sitting on the edge of the water). I really felt like I could see most of the city, clustered around the water. The harbour itself was nice to look at as well, and I seriously considered staying up there to watch the sun set, but I didn't have the motivation to sit up there for a couple hours after having wandered through the Botanic Gardens.

As I said before, this is a great way to see the entire city, takes a relatively short amount of time (the cable car couldn't have taken more than 5 or 10 minutes to get to the top), and is extremely cheap, so why not ride the cable car?

It’s only a couple of dollars, and you can take the cable car to the botanical gardens. There is a small cable car museum (which is free) that explains the history of the cable car. It's a quick, fun activity, and I'm sure kids would love it.

Paris is a beautiful city, but she is so expensive that you must count every single euro spent. The Eiffel tower is so big and beautiful. If you want, you can go to the Seine.

I took the Métro. It is the most important type of transportation in Paris, but be careful not to lose your way. The day after, I took a bus to the most beautiful park for children, where there are trains and exciting things to do, but if you come in the winter, don’t forget to take an umbrella with you, because they charge so much money for one.

The next day I went to the biggest shopping place in Paris. There are so many shops, you can find everything.

So, I just like Paris, but you need to take more money with you.

The cable car is one highlights of the Wellington experience, and the ride is truly beautiful. This is because the steep hills of Wellington afford you a good view of the city and the harbour below. You can board the cable car at Lambton Quay, and get off at Kelbourn to look down at the city. Another attraction awaits you at the top. The cable car actually stops at the Botanic Gardens, with 26 hectares of native bush, and gardens galore, including a rose garden, a garden of endangered species, an Australian garden, ferns and so on and so forth. After you have visited the gardens, you can choose to walk back down to Lambton Quay through a well-marked trail.