It’s been over a year since I moved to Auckland and that means that I was due a holiday from my company. So in January I applied for a week off around my birthday and Michael and I started planning a trip to the capital. I’d never been to Wellington before but I have a few blogging friends down there and Michael made a trip to Wellington with his ex-housemates and loved it. We got cheap flights with JetStar ($189 for the two of us return with 2x20kg bags) and booked accommodation at a backpackers in a private room with ensuite.
Then came the fun part: deciding where to eat in Wellington.
There is heaps of choice and I had a good 5 to 6 emails in my inbox with long lists of places to visit. I took everyone’s suggestions into consideration and jotted down a few places that came up a few times on the lists. We decided that we wanted our week in Wellington to be relaxing but also not wasteful. I booked three big ticket items for our stay. One was a trip to the Weta Cave, one was a massage for myself and lastly we went to see Me and Earl and the Dying Girl courtesy of 20th Century Fox. Other than that we knew we’d be exploring Wellington quite a bit and made sure to pack comfortable shoes.
Our first day was eventful because we landed at 7am and could only check in at the backpackers at 2pm so we stashed our bags in their storage room and went for a walk. Michael’s FitBit logged that we did around 30 000 steps that day. Not bad. Of course we both had a nap once we were allowed to book in.
The upside was that we got to see a lot of Wellington during our walk and we got to map out what we wanted to do that week. The i-site is a gold mine of information and we managed to pick up leaflets and information on almost all of the things we had in mind. I would suggest visiting the i-site at the beginning of your trip to Wellington and asking a few questions. The staff were so helpful and they really went the extra mile to find us information about specific activities. Even if you don’t have a starting point, the i-site can help you plan your trip. We got info on the Writer’s Walk, the Lux Light Festival and the Cable Cars to the Botanic Gardens.
The Weta Cave tour was booked for our second day. We grabbed a quick breakfast and headed for the Wellington i-site where the tour picked us up and drove us through to Miramar where the Weta Workshop has set up it’s home. Our driver wore bright blue sunglasses and introduced himself as Chewy. He was fantastic, pointing out lots of interesting little snippets around the Miramar area. I won’t spoil anything because I strongly suggest that you visit the Weta Workshop when you visit Wellington and I suggest you choose the option of being picked up. We saw a lot more on our drive there and back than we would have if we had driven there ourselves.
Once we arrived at the Weta Cave we were allowed to explore the shop and take photos with the trolls before a quick DVD history of the company. It was eye opening to see what a small prop studio from New Zealand has achieved and worked on. A lot of their work is overshadowed by their work on the LOTR and Hobbit franchises but they’ve produced a lot of good quality work for many other projects. And then came my favourite part. We were showed around the studio by a member of the Weta Workshop crew. Her name was Daisy and she holds the record of dressing an orc in 66 seconds.
Being shown around by someone who has worked on the costumes and props and knows the process intimately is definitely something magical. It was like being allowed a small glimpse into this fantastic world. You definitely feel like part of the family as you’re shown around.
We absolutely loved our time in Wellington and I think we’ll go back for another trip soon. There are a couple of places on my to-eat list that we didn’t tick off so there’s always an excuse to go down for a break. I also picked my favourite restaurant from Wellington but I’ll be popping up a post about that next week. Hint: it involves burgers and friends and buttermilk chicken.
Have you been to Wellington? Is there something you’d definitely recommend doing down there?