Wellington is a great place - we've so far visited mack's brew pub, Katherine Mansfield's birthplace, Lady Norwood's Rose Garden and Te Papa, the national museum. Perhaps the most interesting exhibit was a cannon chucked overboar by Captain Cook when, while grounded on a local reef, he tried to float himself off. We also walked through the parliament area with the famous beehive building.The Rose Garden is pretty stunning - and part of a very extensive botanical garden. Even modestly sized NZ cities have impressive botanical gardens though this is one of the best and ranks alongside the one we eventually saw at Rotorua. New Zealand evidently has a thing about roses - wonderful displays of roses are a regular feature of private gardens as well as civic gardens. Mac's brewpub is pretty good - though Mac's is not a small independent brewery as you might easily think but part of a larger conglomerate - Lion-Nathan Foods with several thousand employees. But the brewpub is very nicely situated on the harbour and is a very comfy place to call in. Free wifi is available - which we found to be relatively rare in NZ generally.Katherine (originally Kathleen) Mansfield is a writer I hadn't actually read until Wellington. The childhood home in Wellington is very pleasant with modest but pretty gardens. The house illustrates the history of Wellington (and NZ) well - the lifestyle of middle class Wellington, the expansion of the city over the years. There are plenty of old photos. Katherine went, as so many kiwis, to Europe to further her career. The picture is of her house - a short walk out of the town centre.
Wellington is a great place - we've so far visited mack's brew pub, Katherine Mansfield's birthplace, Lady Norwood's Rose Garden and Te Papa, the national museum. Perhaps the most interesting exhibit was a cannon chucked overboar by Captain Cook when, while grounded on a local reef, he tried to float himself off. We also walked through the parliament area with the famous beehive building.The Rose Garden is pretty stunning - and part of a very extensive botanical garden. Even modestly sized NZ cities have impressive botanical gardens though this is one of the best and ranks alongside the one we eventually saw at Rotorua. New Zealand evidently has a thing about roses - wonderful displays of roses are a regular feature of private gardens as well as civic gardens. Mac's brewpub is pretty good - though Mac's is not a small independent brewery as you might easily think but part of a larger conglomerate - Lion-Nathan Foods with several thousand employees. But the brewpub is very nicely situated on the harbour and is a very comfy place to call in. Free wifi is available - which we found to be relatively rare in NZ generally.Katherine (originally Kathleen) Mansfield is a writer I hadn't actually read until Wellington. The childhood home in Wellington is very pleasant with modest but pretty gardens. The house illustrates the history of Wellington (and NZ) well - the lifestyle of middle class Wellington, the expansion of the city over the years. There are plenty of old photos. Katherine went, as so many kiwis, to Europe to further her career. The picture is of her house - a short walk out of the town centre.