Wellington, the windy capital

Wellington has a well-deserved reputation as the windy city. It has a magnificent harbour, with buildings marching magnificently up extremely steep hills, which probably contributes to the wind tunnel effect. Downtown Wellington is lively during the day, and the café culture is probably one of the best outside of Europe. As the center of power, Wellington also has some interesting government sites to visit.

Quick Tips:

Best Way To Get Around:

Wellington is essentially a walking city, when the weather is nice, but when it starts pouring, it is miserable. During that time, hail a cab or get on a bus.

Editor's Note: The Parkroyal Wellington became the InterContinental Wellington in 2001.

The Parkroyal Wellington is the poshest hotel in Wellington, with a couple of nice restaurants, a popular bar, an accommodating staff, and nice rooms. The room includes a refreshment center, in which coffee, tea, and some snack cookies are supplied free of charge. Wellington rains a lot, so it is nice to be in a hotel that can offer you umbrellas should you want to brave the weather and visit Wellington in the rain. What is best is that the Parkroyal is about two blocks from the harbour, and another block from downtown Wellington. There are cafes galore in the several blocks of downtown Wellington, and the one right across from the Parkroyal sells some of the best espresso drinks that I have had, and I do live in Seattle.

Shed 5 is a popular restaurant located on the waterfront, about 2 blocks from the Parkroyal Hotel. It serves nouveau New Zealand cuisine, which is New Zealand in character--it serves exotic meat like cervena and ostrich--but with predominantly Asian flavor--Japanese being the most predominant. Shade 5 has good bread, but remember that New Zealand charges for bread, so if you are looking for this to fill you up before dinner, beware that maybe an appetizer will be a bit more exotic, and not that much more expensive.

I remember Shed 5 particularly because I ordered something fairly exotic there, specifically ostrich. I had expected a white cut of meat, in the order of chicken, because anything and everything that is remotely different is said to taste like chicken. Well, it would behoove you to check with the waitstaff before you order. Needless to say that I was totally mistaken, for the dish that they set before me was of a red meat persuasion, with lots of juice, actually it looks like steak, or more correctly lamb, as a cut from an ostrich is much smaller than a cut from a cow. I actually thought that the waitstaff had made a mistake, and signaled him from afar. I pointed to my dish and said I think this may have come here by mistake. He asked if I ordered ostrich, and when I say yes, he just hit his own hump and said: "Well, lady, that's the ostrich hump you are looking at," or something to that effect. We had a great laugh when I told him I was expecting chicken. Well, to make the story short, I loved that ostrich meat--it's tender and juicy, and it's like beef without all the fat. If you are adventurous and are carnivorous, I would really recommend it.

If you are looking for good Indian food, look no further than the Curry Club in Wellington's famous Cuba Mall, where ethnic food and other ethnic offerings, as well as small retail stores, thrive. The restaurant serves incredible Tandoori, and its raita is superb. It delivers for free as well--I had an inordinate amount of food delivered straight to the room at the Parkroyal. The dining scene in the restaurant itself is intimate, with the owner greeting each customer with a bright smile as if they were her regular customer. It was the greatest surprise for me as far as Wellington is concerned.

The Backbencher Pub and Café is a Wellington insitution. The business thrives during lunch, but I heard they are doing good business at dinner as well. Being right opposite the beehive, you expect something political on its walls. You won't be disappointed. However, unlike many places where the only thing political are pictures of politicians with owners, the Parkbencher Pub and Café went all out in its irreverence. Its food is named after politicians, as well as political concepts. For example, choose from a spin doctor curry, a Hawke and dover burger, and a Clarke's chocolate fruit flan--homemade chocolate fruit flan with mandarin sorbet and vanilla drizzle--which is named after the current prime minister of New Zealand (but at the time we went the leader of the opposition was from a more liberal persuasion), and described as having a hard and vigorous shell, but with a soft and correct center. High on the walls are papier-mache statues of politicians, portrayed hilariously with actions most associated with them. For example, the ex-Prime Minister is shown holding a noose around the neck of her predecessor, signifying the fact that she deposed him in a coup within their own party. Other politicians are shown with their head outside a bottle, and so on. It's hilarious, and if you know New Zealand politics at all, you will have a wonderful time figuring out who is who.

The Te Tapa Museum is the pride of Wellington, being as it is the museum of art, history, Maori culture and the natural environment. Located at the edge of the water, it is a beautiful architectural structure. It is an extremely high-tech museum, offering as it does many virtual reality experiences. Specifically, there are virtual bunjy jumping, virtual earthquake, virtual sheep shearing, and so on and so forth. Virtual bunjy jumping is a tourist trap, but it is a fun one nevertheless. It started with you being harnessed to a steel structure, which is then turned upside down. While upside down, you see a video that mimics the actual experience of bunjy jumping. I actually felt queazy, as if I actually went on a bunjy jumping ride. Many people who get out of this exhibit do look green, as if they had just jumped a hundred feet. It's all in good fun.

The top floor of Te Tapa also has a good exhibit on Maori art, with a good collection of Maori masks and houses. Besides a newly created Maori meeting hall, which the artists carved out of new wood material, you can see old Maori treasures, including a fairly sizable Maori canoe. Although it does not rival the Auckland Museum in sheer grandeur, it is still a beautiful example of Maori art and culture. Admission to the Museum is free, although the virtual exhibits may cost you a minimal amount.

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.