A walk along Wellington’s sometimes windy waterfront reveals much about the vibrant city that is New Zealand’s capital. Lee Mylne reports.

Surrounded by hills and a rugged coastline which boasts a stunning harbour, Wellington is postcard picturesque, with colourful wooden houses blinking in the sunlight on the hillsides.
Many of the city’s attractions are along the waterfront, which is lined with contemporary sculptures from Queens Wharf to the sweep of beach which fringes Oriental Bay. Here’s our guide to discovering the best of it:

The Museum of Wellington City & Sea, housed in the former Bond Store building (1892) on Queens Wharf, gives an insight into the fascinating maritime history that has helped shape the city, and includes a moving exhibit about the tragic sinking of the inter-island ferry Wahine in Wellington Harbour in 1968, with the loss of 51 lives.

Te Papa Tongarewa, the Museum of New Zealand, is a landmark on the waterfront. Te Papa or ‘Our Place’ is a good place to lose an hour or a day (or more). Entry is free, so it doesn’t matter how short your time is, even a glimpse of this remarkable museum is worth the stop. Exhibitions embrace both Maori and European perspectives on the country, environment, culture and people, using great interactive experiences which will also appeal to kids.  

A stunning collection of public artworks creates an outdoor gallery along the waterfront. In Frank Kitts Park, named after Wellington’s longest serving mayor, you’ll find a bronze statue of the great Maori navigator Kupe, the explorer and discoverer of New Zealand/Aotearoa, his wife Hine Te Aparangi and the tohunga (priest) Pekahourangi in their canoe.

This point also marks the start (or end) of the Wellington Writers Walk, a series of 15 text sculptures carrying quotations about the city by many writers who have called Wellington home at some point – names such as Katherine Mansfield, James K. Baxter, Bill Manhire, Maurice Gee, Vincent O’Sullivan and Denis Glover.  

Sculptor Neil Dawson’s shining orb called Ferns, hangs above Civic Square, silver nikau palms stand tall, and Paul Dibble’s Fruits of the Garden is a striking work right on the seafront. At the end of the park, near the lagoon, is Tanya Ashken’s Albatross. Further along, the City to Sea Bridge links the Civic Centre with the waterfront. Its timber sculpture of birds, whales and celestial motifs by Maori artist Para Matchitt symbolises the arrival of Maori and Europeans to this harbour. Another striking work, Colin Webster Watson’s Tail of the Whale, sits on the waterfront at Oriental Bay.  

Opposite Te Papa is the interesting Museum Hotel. The two places are inextricably linked in Wellington’s recent history. The Museum Hotel was once located on the site where Te Papa now stands. In 1993, the hotel faced demolition. Resourcefulness and good old Kiwi ingenuity ruled the day and it was saved by a two-day exercise in which the entire hotel was moved 120 metres down the street on railway tracks to escape the wrecker’s ball. It is now one of the quirkiest hotels in town, with an extensive contemporary art collection and lush, theatrical interiors.

Kaffee Eis, in a boatshed by the lagoon at Frank Kitts Park, has gelato and sorbets (some say better than Italy’s) as well as coffee, cupcakes and more. There’s another branch further along the waterfront, at Oriental Bay, where you’ll also find Beach Babylon, a cafe that serves locally roasted coffee and has a great tapas menu. Another good place to recharge the batteries is Nikau Gallery Cafe, in the Wellington City Art Gallery on Civic Square.

With its sweep of beach and towering Norfolk pines, all under the gaze of an eclectic mix of ultra-modern, art deco and colonial houses spilling down the hillside, Oriental Bay has long been a popular spot with Wellingtonians. In the 1840s, this area was a quarantine station and, in the 1880s, whaling ships brought their catch here. The brightly painted boatsheds that line the harbour date from 1905, with later additions in the 1920s.

Take a seat on one of the many timber benches along Oriental Parade and look back across the water to the city. On a sunny day it’s the best view in town and you might just agree with the words of novelist Patricia Grace, immortalised in the Writers Walk: ‘I love this city, the hills, the harbour, the wind that blasts through it. I love the life and pulse and activity...’

Qantas, Jetstar and Air New Zealand operate direct flights to Wellington from Sydney and Melbourne. Pacific Blue flies direct to Wellington from Brisbane and Sydney. Visit: www.wellingtonnz.com