Wellington

Travel Advice for Seniors: Wellington

Wellington was our final stop on the North Island before ferrying across to the South Island. We had two days to explore the bounty of attractions in Wellington and time for one of our favorites, a food tour!

A bit here about the value of a good guide….we booked our four-week trip through New Zealand with a private tour company. However, we had guides and drivers in just about every city. Some were walking tours, and some were driving tours. In Wellington, we had an especially good guide from Kaewa Tours, who went out of his way to provide history, answer our questions and show us sights that were off the beaten path. And do remember that a good guide is worth a good tip.

We started our first day in Wellington with a few local stops: St Gerard’s Catholic Church, built in 1908, was first in the world to be dedicated to the Italian Gerard Maiella. It has a commanding view of the city and the harbor and is of simple gothic design.

We took a drive past the New Zealand Parliament Building and stopped at Old St Paul’s Anglican Church. Built in 1866, Old St Paul’s is one of New Zealand’s important historic sites and is a beautiful example of timber Gothic Revival architecture. It is now nondenominational and serves as a wedding and other events venue.

Our drive next took us down to the harbor and then around the harbor and Oriental Bay to Lyall Beach, a popular surfing beach and Barrette’s Reef which is one of the most dangerous reefs in New Zealand. We also took time for a coffee stop to watch the surfers going out and other beach activities. It was a little chilly to get in the water, but the stop was great to catch the locals in action.

We opted out of the Weta Studios stop, where special effects for the Lord of the Rings series were made. This is a very popular tourist stop, however, and many people come to New Zealand specifically to go to Lord of the Rings filming locations. Hobbiton is actually in Matamata, which is about an hour NW of Rotorua. However, apparently the Lord of the Rings was filmed at several locations throughout New Zealand. We did meet some Hobbit fanatics in Rotorua and yes, people do come to New Zealand with this as their main destination.

Following our drive around the harbor, we took the Wellington cable car up to a beautiful vantage point with views of the city and harbor. The funicular was very close to our next stop, the Wellington Botanical Gardens. The Botanic Garden is about 150 years old and is located in the middle of the city on about sixty acres. In addition to the many water features and walkways, the highlight is the Lady Norwood Rose Garden. There are 110 rose beds geometrically laid out with the glass Begonia House as a backdrop. We also enjoyed the local bird life in the park, including a duck and her ducklings enjoying a swim.

After a full morning, we were ready for a more relaxed pace at the Museum of Te Papa Tongarewa. The Te Papa is an important New Zealand museum and gives insight into its history and culture, particularly that of the Māori. Popular exhibits include the tsunami tank and a shaking earthquake house (be prepared and hang on!), plus a display of extinct animals, a beautifully carved Māori meeting place, an exhibit about the Treaty of Waitangi and the art gallery. Plan on spending at least an hour or two here.

Our second day was a full day food tour. We love to go on food tours: It combines a little history with a lot of sampling of the local favorite food and drinks.

We started at a small independent coffee roastery.  We were wondering about this as New Zealand is not well known for its coffee, however, it is very well known for its coffee culture! It was a great stop. We first had a cup of coffee and then went straight into roasting our own coffee! It was very educational, and the owners didn’t hesitate to let us get as involved in the coffee-making process as much as we wanted. They gave us a small bag of coffee to remember our visit and we picked up quite a bit of coffee to take home. My husband is a big coffee buff, and we always bring him a “trip treat” of coffee. Having tasted coffee from all over the world, he said that was one of his favorites because it was so smooth.

We next visited a tapas restaurant near the harbor for some great tapas. We love tapas, but it’s easy to get carried away with ordering and they can get pricey if you’re not careful.  We had a great variety of tapas and a nice glass of wine to accompany. Everything was delicious and it was a lovely leisurely lunch with our guide who was an endless source of all things New Zealand.

Our final stop on the food tour was the Wellington Chocolate Factory. We had a few samples and picked up a few tasty treats to take with us.

It was a lovely two days in Wellington, and we enjoyed ourselves. However, we were on our way to the South Island and were getting ready to board our ferry in the morning!

Where we stayed: Travelodge Wellington. Nice hotel, we entered through a parking garage as the second entry is up a hill with many steps. Centrally located.  Breakfast was not included.

How we got there: InterCity Coach (Bus) Napier to Wellington. Then chauffeur from the bus stop to hotel. This was part of a four-week private tour through New Zealand. We began in Auckland and ended in Queenstown.

General Accessibility Information: Major tourist sights, hotels and transportation in most major cities are accessible. Further, some parks or parts of parks are accessible. Call in advance to verify and make specialty arrangements.See our sections on specialty apps and accessible travel for more on accessibility assistance.