WELLINGTON REGION Ing Countrydotted Withcute Townsandfamedwineries,Awild,Windsweptcoastline
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378 Wellington Region If your New Zealand travels thus far have been all about the great outdoors and sleepy rural towns, this is the city that’ll blow the cobwebs away. Art-house cinemas, funky boutiques, hip bars, live-music venues and lashings of restaurants – it’s all in ‘Windy Welly’. Wellingtonians lay passionate claim to the crown of ‘cultural capital’, and the mantle is surely theirs. Suited-up civil servants there are, but the city also supports a significant popula- tion of creative types who foster an admirably active and accessible arts scene. It’s a proud, tight-knit town, where the citizenry are convinced they’re living in the world’s best-kept secret. As the crossing point between the North and South Islands, travellers have long been passing through these parts. Te Papa and Zealandia now have visitors stopping in their tracks, and even a couple of days’ pause will reveal its myriad other attractions – a beautiful harbour and walkable shoreline, hillsides clad in pretty weatherboard houses, ample inner- city surprises, and some of the freshest city air on the planet. Less than an hour away to the north, the Kapiti Coast offers more settled weather and a beachy vibe, with the Kapiti Island nature reserve a highlight. On a different tangent, but still only an hour away over the Rimutaka Range, lies the Wairarapa. Here you’ll find farm- ing country dotted with cute towns and famed wineries, and a wild, windswept coastline. HIGHLIGHTS Getting interactive at NZ’s finest museum, Wellington’s Te Papa (p 387 ) Scaling the lighthouse steps on wild and remote Cape Palliser (p 410 ) Sampling the great coffee and quality beer Kapiti that Wellingtonians demand at the city’s Island slick bars (p396 ) and bohemian cafes (p 395 ) Exploring Kapiti Island (p405 ) and saying hi to the takahe, one of NZ’s rarest birds Maintaining a straight line on your bicycle Martinborough as you tour the picturesque Martinborough Wellington wineries (p 408 ) Riding the ratchety cable car (p 386 ) from Lambton Quay to the leafy Wellington Cape Palliser Botanic Gardens (p 385 ) Ripping up the trails at Makara Peak Mountain Bike Park (p 388 ) Telephone code: 04 www.wellingtonnz.com www.wairarapanz.com WELLINGTON REGION lonelyplanet.comὈὈὈ WELLINGTON 379 0 30 km WELLINGTON REGION 0 20 miles To Palmerston Hamua To Napier Pongaroa Hokio Beach Ihakara North (30km) 2 (165km) Lake Horowhenua Ow Levin ahan Newman ga Akitio Lake Papaitonga Tiraumea Ohau Eketahuna Rv 52 Waikawa Beach 1 Alfredton Manakau Pukaha Mt Bruce Kaiparoro Owahanga Otaki Beach National Wildlife Ihuraua ὈὈὈOtaki Centre Te Te Horo Beach Otaki Horo Mitre Mauriceville Mataikona Peka Peka Gorge (1571m) Kapiti Beach Nga Manu Tararua Range Island Nature Reserve Tararua Forest Parkᝲ Waikanae Otaki Forks Mt Holdsworth Raumati Waiohine Tinui Whakataki Kapiti Coast Paraparaumu (1470m) Queen Mt Hector Castlepoint Elizabeth (1529m) Park Staglands Masterton Whareama Paekakariki Wildlife Tauweru Reserve Alpha (1362m) Waiohine Clareville PukeruaὈὈὈ Bay ὈRv Gorge Kaitoke Carterton Regional Park 2 Mana Plimmerton Island Upper Greytown Cape Hutt Featherston Gladstone Riversdale Beach Tauherenikau ver Terawhiti Porirua Ponatahi Ri Pipinui Pigeon ru Uruti Point Point Tawa 2 Bush 53 io Ohau 1 Hutt River Lake nu Point Lower Hutt Kahutara Wai Petone Wairarapa Martinborough Matiu-Somes Days Bay RimutakaRange Island Wainuiomata Rimutaka Dyerville Forest Park Flat Point ὈὈὈEastbourne Ὀ airarapa WELLINGTON Wellington Tuhitarata Hinakura Airport Catchpool DOC Campsite Pencarrow Pirinoa Honeycomb Wharekauhau The W Lighthouse Lighthouse Lake Onoke Miramar Windy Lake Ferry Peninsula Point Glendhu Rocks Turakirae Palliser Aorangi Range Head Bay Putangirua Mt Ross Cook Strait Pinnacles (981m) S O U T H Aorangi Tora Manurewa Point P A C I F I C (Haurangi) ὈὈὈὈForest Park O C E A N White Rock Ngawi Te Kaukau Point Cape Palliser Cape Palliser Lighthouse Climate about everywhere. Commuter trains run When Wellington’s weather turns bad, it from Wellington to the Kapiti Coast and the can be truly foul: laceratingὈ winds and sheets Wairarapa; long-distance Tranz Scenic (www. of freezing rain coming in sideways. It ain’t tranzscenic.co.nz) trains run from Wellington to called ‘Windy Wellington’ for nothing… Auckland via Palmerston North. See p 399 for November to April are the warmer months details on getting to/from Wellington. and the best months to visit, with average maximums hovering around 20°C. From May to August it’s colder and wetter – daily WELLINGTON temperatures lurk around 12°C. pop 164,000 (city), 424,000 (region) A small city with a relatively big reputation, Getting There & Around Wellington is most famous for being NZ’s Wellington is a major transport hub, being the capital. It is infamous for its weather, par- North Island port for the interisland ferries. ticularly the gale-force winds wont to barrel Wellington Airport is serviced by interna- through, wrecking umbrellas and obliterating tional and domestic airlines. hairdos. It also lies on a major fault line. And Easy train and bus connections make com- negotiating the inner-city one-way system is WELLINGTON REGION muting into Wellington a viable option – many like the Krypton Factor on acid. people travel to work (or to party) in Wellington But don’t be deterred. ‘Welly’ is a brilliant from the hinterland. Approaching the city from city, as those who spend any more than a the north, you’ll pass through either the Kapiti couple of days there will attest. For a starter Coast to the west via State Highway 1 (SH1), it’s lovely to look at, scattered around bushy or the Wairarapa and heavily populated Hutt hillsides encircling a magnificent harbour. Valley to the east via State Highway 2 (SH2). There are super lookouts on hilltops, golden InterCity (www.intercity.co.nz) is the main sand on the prom, and spectacular craggy North Island bus company, travelling just shores along the South Coast. Downtown, .