On the way to Wellington the first time around, I was told by a Wellington native that Mount Victoria was the one thing I should see while in Wellington (so funny how there's so many of those places in Welly that should be "the only thing you see in Wellington": Te Papa, the Cable Car, Mount Vic...). He recommended climbing the mountain, which can be done, but when I looked at its height and its distance from Courtenay Place and compared it to the amount of time I had I decided it was more feasible to catch the bus.

Catching the bus was really simple. I went into an internet cafe across from the many bus stops lining Courtenay Place and looked up the Stagecoach bus lines in Wellington; it probably would have been just as simple to walk through the bus stops. I found that it was the 20 bus to Mount Victoria and it would only cost me a one-way ticket to get there and back.

By the time we neared Mount Victoria itself, I was pretty much the only person on the bus. Since the top was the end of the bus line, the bus actually waited for 15 minutes or so there; this happened to be just long enough for me to walk up to the viewing platform at the mountain's peak, get a wonderful 360 view of Wellington and its surroundings, and get totally windswept, without having to wait for the bus at all.

The views really were quite amazing, and even better than those that the top of the cable car offered. I could see Wellington itself and the harbour, and from this angle I could even pick out my hostel and the fish 'n' chips shop I had eaten at the night before. In the other direction, I could see where Wellington had spread out of the bowl surrounding the harbour, and the airport. It was funny to see the surfers catching waves at the end of the airport runway--apparently one of the best places to catch waves in Wellington, according to our friend, but its gotta be a little intimidating to be riding a wave and look up and see landing gear! Past this inlet was the open sea, and I saw a couple Interislander ferries pass by here on their way to the South Island.

While I was the only person that took public transport up the mountain, a couple tour groups arrived while I was there that filled up much of the room on the platform, but I didn't have to wait long to get many of my pictures at all. My only real complaint about Mount Victoria was the amount of time it took getting a hairbrush through my wind-tangled hair later! So my advice on Mount Vic--bring a camera with plenty of memory and a strap to keep it attached to your hand, a camcorder if you have one, and a hairband to tie up your hair!

This iconic mountain (196m) is one of Wellington's best lookout spots, affording spectacular 360-degree views of the city and harbour and across to Hutt Valley and the eastern harbour. From the car park, walk up a short flight of steps leading up to the lookout; here are some good views of the city waterfront and docks. Next to the car park, at the top, is the Byrd Memorial honouring US aviator and explorer Richard Byrd, the first man to fly over the South Pole. If you haven't got access to a car, you can catch bus no. 20 (Mondays to Fridays) from the train station or Courtenay Place. You can also walk up as part of the Southern Walkway.With the city spread below you around the harbour area and the suburbs clinging to the hillside, the view from the top of Mount Victoria is worth the effort.

One more thing to add is, if you are a Lord of the Rings fan, just before you get up to Mount Victoria, when you are on Alexander Road, there is a car pack to the left. You will see a steep path that drops into trees; this is where the scene Get off the road was filmed.