If you are visiting New Zealand with the family you will almost certainly be including the capital city of Wellington in your itinerary. Wellington is at the bottom of the North Island, and is also the city that links the North Island with the South Island via the interisland ferries. Its geographical position and hilly terrain makes Wellington a wild and windy city at times, bitpapa but there are also many gorgeous days where you can wander along the harbour’s edge and while away many happy hours as a family, making your time in Wellington memorable, relaxing and educational. Wellington’s city centre is nestled perfectly near the water’s edge and many family friendly attractions are within walking distance of the waterfront. Here are 5 family friendly activities that you can enjoy during your time in Wellington:
1. The Museum of New Zealand, Te Papa Tongarewa, is known to locals as Te Papa. It’s New Zealand’s national museum but isn’t much like any other museum you have visited. The kids might groan if you mention the word museum, but once they’re visited Te Papa, furzly they’ll be sure to want to return again. As well as the top class exhibitions housing New Zealand’s treasures, Te Papa provides fun hands on learning experiences for people of all ages at places like the four Discovery Centres and Story Place. It can be a good idea to start your visit to Te Papa with a one hour guided tour. You will get an overview of what’s on offer and you can return to the bits you know you’ll enjoy the most.
2. Waitangi Park is a huge new urban park on the waterfront. It’s a great place to give the kids some unstructured free range play during your time in Wellington. Waitangi Park is a large grassy park with a stream at its outer edge. Activities you and the kids can do together at the park include walking, skating, picnicking, kicking a ball, petanque and paddling at the water’s edge. If you’re lucky, pg79th you might even see some of the free entertainment that is often on show.
3. The Weta Cave is as exciting as it sounds. It’s just a short drive from the city centre, but well worth it. The whole family will be thoroughly intrigued by the insider’s look into the workings of the New Zealand film industry and the memorabilia from the famous Weta Workshop which is behind movies such as the Lord of the Rings.
4. The cable car is a big “must do activity” for your time in Wellington. The kids will absolutely love the cable car ride. In fact, they’d be quite happy just going up and down if that’s all there was to it. However, there’s much more. The ride takes you to the Cable Car Museum, igaming marketing the Carter Observatory and the Botanical Gardens – not to mention the spectacular view! You can find the cable car in the appropriately named Cable Car Lane off Lambton Quay.
5. Don’t miss the Karori Wildlife Sanctuary. It’s hard to imagine that such an amazing natural space can be situated so close to the heart of a capital city. But it’s a real sanctuary in every sense of the word. Take an invigorating walk through the bush to see lots of native New Zealand flora and fauna up close. pg79
