Wellington for a few days

Testament1

Hey guys I'm going to be flying to Wellington on Nov 3rd til Nov 7th as I have to go offshore for my visa in Oz to go through. So basically I'm looking for a few opinions of anything in the city worth checking out or anything within driving distance worth seeing (assuming car rental prices aint too bad). Also any tips on a good hostel to stay in would be much appreciated!

CatFromHue

As usual it depends on what you like to do.

If you want to go for an afternoons hike I'd recommend the Skyline Walkway hike. It'd just take an afternoon (maybe 4 hours but you can make it as short as you like really as you're never that far from the suburbs) and you get a great view of Wellington city below you, the Rimutaka's on the other side of the bay, and you can see the South Island on a good day too.

You could rent a bike and cycle around the Miramar penninsula too. If it's not windy it's very nice as all on the flat.

There's Makara peak MTB as well.

Karori bird sanctuary is meant to be very nice as well, though I've never been.

Going up Mt. Victoria is also nice, you can drive up too!

As you can prob guess from the above the best things about Wellington for were the free scenic ones.

Testament1

Ya I suppose what I'm looking for would be along the lines of nice scenery, good beaches, good nightlife.

pclancy

The Skyline walkway is a must!

My favorite Wellington Hostel:

http://moana-lodge-accommodation.co.nz/

Its 20 minutes from the CBD by train/car and overlooking the Pacific and the south island. Lovely spot. Lots of nice walks and beaches nearby. Or there are numerous hostels in the CBD itself that are decent. All within easy reach of the nightlife which centres around Courtney Place\Cuba St and that end of town.

CatFromHue

Testament1 wrote: »

Ya I suppose what I'm looking for would be along the lines of nice scenery, good beaches, good nightlife.

Courteny Place is where the strip of bars are but it may be quiet mid week unless the students are still in college.

I don't know if it's still open but The Big Kumara was a student niteclub that I went to a few times and was good fun, I think!

This was in 2006/07 though.

https://www.facebook.com/bigkumara

CatFromHue

So did you do anything in Wellington in the end?

Testament1

Ya I spent the first day just wandering around the city, getting my bearings. Nice little place, easy to navigate. Did the Mt.Victoria summit and southern walkway too. Incredibly spectacular views up there. Headed to Te Papa museum when the rain arrived, the place is like a labyrinth, could easily spend all day there checking out the exhibitions. Went to see Tommy Tiernan too on Wednesday night. Hadn't paid much attention to him for the last few years but he was brilliant that night. I also randomly bumped into a couple of friends from home out on the street, I knew they were in NZ but didn't realise they were actually in Wellington! Had a few drinks with them.

So all in all it wasn't a bad little holiday but 4 days really is not enough. I'll definitely be back at some stage.