Wellington - Capital of Cool

From the bustling promenade along the waterfront, to colourful street performers in Cuba Mall, to the array of intimate bars and the tiny pockets of gastronomic pleasure all dotted within walking distance of each other. It is the perfect place to spend a weekend.

My first stop on the drive in from the airport is for refuelling at the Maranui Café. The building juts into the waterfront of Lyall Bay in what used to be the surf lifesaving club.
It is crowded on this sunny morning – serving huge tasty meals and punchy coffee. Picture windows overlook a clear blue sky, rolling waves littered with bobbing surfers, and Cook Strait stretching into the distance.

The lure of the sea is strong, and I spend an afternoon on the inner harbour with the RPNYC Sailing Academy. It is a rare still day in Wellington as we skim through the glossy waves past Oriental Bay. Our yacht noses over to Queens Wharf to watch a helicopter take off, and we survey students, office workers and joggers enjoying the sunshine on the waterfront. Like Londoners, Wellingtonians seize any opportunity to bask in the sunshine on less blustery days.

With an appetite piqued by sea breezes, it is a pleasure to experience early evening bistro dining at the exceptional Logan Brown Restaurant. With three set courses for under $40, the menu is designed for the pre-theatre crowd and while a relatively fast-paced affair, the meal is served with polished aplomb in the spacious 1920s bank building.

For a post-dinner beverage, the Matterhorn is utterly cool, but also completely welcoming. The barman slides a glass of iced water across the bar along with the wine list as soon as I take a seat. With such a seductive selection of both local and international tipples, it is easy to while away a few hours.

All of the Wellingtonians I talk to extol the virtues of living in a compact city. It is ideal for exploring on foot – particularly to discover the tiny boutiques, and multitudes of cafés, bars and restaurants. 

Zest Food Tours provide an intimate insider’s guide to some of these delectable highlights. My affable guide, Lisa, a former lawyer and committed foodie, takes me on a walking tour of the city for some genuinely thrilling epicurean experiences. We begin with a Wellington-strength espresso to engage my brain. Lisa tells me that Wellington is home to more than 17 coffee roasters. London has only three. From the glorious bounty of locally sourced artisan produce at Moore Wilson’s food market, to a blind tasting of inspired flavour combinations at Ciocco – a boutique chocolatier creating such delights as sea salt, toasted sesame, sweet basil and smoked paprika chocolates – it is an enlightening experience. We finish with another jolt of caffeine – an affogato at the bar at Floriditas, another of Wellington’s iconic hot spots.

As the day rolls on, the famous Wellington wind begins to gather strength. From my hotel window I watch the chiaroscuro effect of the clouds racing over the city. The Interislander lumbers out through whitecaps in the frothy harbour, and sea sprays over the marina’s breakwater.

The blustery wind forces friends and I to abandon our optimistic choice of outdoor table at Martin Bosley’s Yacht Club Restaurant. We begin instead with oysters and wine at the bar. The spectacular degustation meal is a mind-boggling array of tastes, textures, colours, swirls, smears, streaks and bursts of flavour. By the end I am truly delighted and replete after such a luscious culinary journey.

Later, we battle the wind along the waterfront, weak with laughter – eyes streaming and hair whirling in mad, tangled clouds. Arriving wide-eyed and breathless at the bar precinct on Queen’s Wharf we wind our way through the sprawling, multi-level Foxglove, to find another of Wellington’s – literally– hidden charms. We step through a mirrored oak wardrobe and discover another secret bar behind – Foxtail. It is quintessentially Wellington – quirky, unassuming and effortlessly cool