It’s official. Wellington is the Coolest Little Capital in the World. Lonely Planet’s “Best in Travel 2011” has said so, and Hillary Clinton, no less, declared as much to the television cameras on her visit to New Zealand in November 2010. As though to confirm it, Jon Bon Jovi rocked up few weeks later, and played to an ecstatic audience in the ‘cake-tin’ – the huge stadium in the middle of Wellington’s port area, which will  host some of the matches during the Rugby World Cup in September. Wellington has come of age.

Despite being the Capital, Wellington is a small city of 180,000 forever jockeying for cultural supremacy with larger Auckland it’s scenically squeezed between mountains and sea. I arrived on a weekend, the sky brilliant blue, flecked with angel-wing clouds, and Wellington’s famous Bay, a picture-postcard scene of white-sailed boats riding the breeze. The quays, crowded with bars, restaurants and Wellington’s famous cafés, were brimming with people enjoying the sunshine, while a few hardy souls braved the chill Southern waters on the city’s beaches, celebrating the start of summer....

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The city is surrounded by hills, with historic houses clinging to the sides......... the Harbour at the fore front. Scenic viewpoints especially from Mt Victoria look across Cook Strait to the Southern Alps and Marlborough Sounds in the South Island.

Many of the suburbs are beachside, and the drive around the harbour hugs the coastline.Explore Wellington beaches and bays.... Eastbourne, Lyall Bay, Island Bay ...each has their own character. North of the city on the Kapiti Coast you have a string beautiful beaches . Lower Hutt and Upper Hutt are satellite cities .

While Wellington enjoys a temperate climate....... it has earned the title “Windy Wellington” due to the winds that frequently whip through the narrow streets funnelled through from Cook Strait.

Here I share some of my favourite experiences when I explore Wellington.

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