2 Days in Wellington, New Zealand!

         Nestled at the southern tip of New Zealand’s North Island, Wellington stands as the vibrant capital city of New Zealand. This picturesque city is not only the political and cultural heart of the nation but also a treasure trove of natural wonders, artistic endeavors, and a thriving culinary scene. Wellington, often referred to as the “Coolest Little Capital in the World,” is a destination that seamlessly weaves together diverse landscapes, rich culture, and a unique blend of creativity.

       Since we were only spending a couple days in Wellington, we decided to book a day tour of the city. We highly recommended a private tour when you only have short stays somewhere, as it allows you to get the most out of the city without wasting time trying to figure out directions or where to go. We booked our tour through Viator app, and we chose the “From Cave to Coast Wellington Highlights Tour” run by Zozo Travel. It was just us on the tour, which was nice. If you are booking tours, it’s best to do private or small groups.

       Our driver picked us up and we headed to Charles Plimmer Park. It’s a great spot to catch some photos of the full city and beautiful water, but our time was cut short due to a heavy downpour and extreme wind (be prepared for the wind, Wellington is the windiest city in the world). After a slow walk up many stairs and a fast run to the bottom to escape the rain, we got back in the vehicle and headed to Weta workshop.

      On our way to Weta, we took a few pit stops to get some photos of the Wellington sign and some pics by the coast. Another plus of tours is learning all the history as you travel to your different destinations. The Weta workshop was super cool to visit and if we had more time we would have loved to book a full tour here or to do a creative workshop. We were able to see the museum inside and they gave us some cool swords to pose with for some photo ops.

     After our short visit to Weta, it was lunchtime. Our tour guide took us to Spruce Goose. It was delicious with nice water views. They had great burgers, fish and chips, and huge milkshakes!

    Next stop, Owhiro Bay, which has a very rich history (click here to read a little about it). It’s also home to the Little Blue Penguin, which would have been cool to see but they typically can only be seen at dusk. We then made our way up to see the Brooklyn Wind Turbine. This was New Zealand’s first viable commercial wind turbine, installed in 1993. In 1996, the turbine was replaced with a larger turbine due to mechanical issues. It was super cool to see up close and to get the full wind turbine experience on a very windy day.

    We then made our way to the cable cars, which we felt we had to do the tourist thing and take a ride. Once at the top, we stopped by the Wellington Botanical Gardens. Given we were visiting in winter, there wasn’t much to see, but you could definitely tell that it would be a beautiful place to experience in warmer months when things are in full bloom.

    Our last stop was to visit “Old St Paul’s” church. It really is a must-see when visiting Wellington because of the history and it is a well-known landmark in Wellington. It was beautiful inside and our tour guide was able to give us the history, but you can also visit and book a guided tour or just take the booklet and tour yourself. This was our last stop on the day tour. Needless to say, we were able to see a lot of Wellington on this tour!

We ended the day exploring the Museum of New Zealand. The Museum of New Zealand is an absolute must-do in Wellington. Not only do you get to learn so much history of New Zealand, but the museum was filled with incredible displays and interactive areas. We did not allow enough time to see everything, so I would suggest planning for a few hours to explore the museum.

Day 2 we spent a day at a Sheep Farm. There are a variety of sheep farms to visit all over New Zealand, and while I can’t speak to many of them, I’m sure there are many great ones. I can tell you that a sheep farm should be on your list of “things to do.” There are more sheep than people in New Zealand, and learning about the sheep culture was interesting, plus the views from the sheep farms are incredible. We visited Tussock Ridge Tours. It was about a 5-hour tour outside of Wellington. We were able to feed a baby sheep that was found without its mom when we arrived. Then we hopped in the truck and drove through the rolling hills, learning all the history of the farm. We stopped and fed the horses some carrots before heading to a small cabin that they had built near the water with breathtaking views. There we met some wonderful sheep—one sheep with quite the personality, who “loved” visitors and spent much of the time trying to knock us down. We enjoyed some tea and homemade muffins in the cabin and were able to catch some perfect pictures outdoors—see below.