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Wellington Zoo

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Wellington Zoo was established in 1906, making it New Zealand’s oldest zoo. The zoo was originally opened because the prime minister at the time needed a place to keep his lion (named King Dick).

It has a large range of African, Asian and native wildlife. Some of the zoo’s more popular residents include baboons, chimpanzees, meerkats, Sumatran tigers, red pandas and tamarins.

The Nest Te Kohanga is a space where you can see the zoo’s veterinary team caring for wildlife and zoo animals. Every day at 11.15am one of the vets give a talk and you can ask them any meerkat or morepork health related questions you’re dying to have answered.

Every day there is a programme of talks by zoo staff, admission to these is included in the zoo admission charge and include talks about chimpanzees, giraffes, kea, kiwi, lions, penguins, red pandas, sun bears and tigers.

For something more involved than a talk, the zoo features a programme of Close Encounter experiences that involve a 30-minute encounter with a specific animal where zoo staff will answer any questions and in many cases you also have the opportunity to pat (and in some cases hold) the animal. Obviously the level of interaction will depend on how dangerous the animals are, for instance you may be able to have a lemur or red panda sit in your lap for a unique photo opportunity, but don’t expect to get as intimate with a lion. The Close Encounter programme is available for cheetahs, lions, giraffes, lemurs, meerkats and red pandas. It is an intimate experience with only 2–4 people in each Close Encounter experience. The Close Encounter programme costs $99–150 (depending on which animal you have chosen), but the cost does include zoo entry. It is essential to book these online through the Wellington Zoo website.

Wellington Zoo is located in the Town Belt in Newtown, around 3.5km south of the city centre.

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa

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The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, commonly referred to as Te Papa (Māori for Our Place), is New Zealand’s leading museum and Wellington’s top attraction attracting over one million visitors each year.

The museum is housed in a building on Cable Street on Wellington’s waterfront and is comprised of six floors although the museum’s main exhibition space is on levels 2–4. Te Papa is noted for its excellent interactive exhibits and interesting displays about New Zealand culture and history.

Starting at the main entrance on level one, the first permanent exhibit is Quake Breaker which demonstrates how base isolators work to protect major buildings (including Te Papa) during an earthquake.

Level two features the Britten V1000 motorcycle, an excellent exhibition about New Zealand’s involvement in the Gallipoli campaign during the First World War and displays about natural history plus the Awesome Forces exhibition. The Awesome Forces exhibition focuses on geological forces with an emphasis on earthquakes and it features an earthquake simulator where you can experience being inside a house during an earthquake. One of the highlights of this level is the world’s largest colossal squid. The 4.2m long, squid weighs 495kg and was captured in 2007 in the Ross Sea off the Antarctic coast. It is the only colossal squid on display anywhere in the world.

The Bush City exhibit is an outdoors exhibition space between levels one and two. This area features native plants as well as a glow worm cave and fossil dig.

Level three has the Blood Earth Fire gallery, which depicts how introduced species have transformed New Zealand’s environment, and displays commemorating the New Zealand Wars of the 1860s and 1870s.

On level four you will find interesting displays about Māori and Pacific Islander history and culture and its place in New Zealand society along with stories of people of have migrated to New Zealand over the past 200 years. The Mana Whenua gallery focuses on Māori culture with taonga including a waka taua (war canoe) from the Whanganui region as well and displays about the Moriori, the original inhabitants of the Chatham Islands. There is also an exhibit relating to the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi, although you have to visit the He Tohu exhibition in the National Library to see the original treaty. Level four also features the skeleton of Phar Lap, New Zealand’s most famous racehorse.

On level six, there is a viewing terrace with sweeping views of Wellington Harbour.

Old St Paul's

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Old St Paul’s near the railway station is an excellent example of colonial Gothic Revival architecture. This former cathedral was built from native timbers in the 1860s and features beautiful stained glass windows.

Wellington Museum

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The Wellington Museum (formerly the Museum of Wellington City and Sea) is an excellent introduction to New Zealand’s capital.

The museum is housed in the 1892 Bond Store building, which was designed by the leading architect of the day, Frederick de Jersey Clere and contains fours floors of exhibits about the city. There are exhibits on the city’s social and cultural history including interactive exhibits and three audio-visual areas showing short films about Wellington.

The museum’s exhibits cover themes such as Wellington’s maritime history and the 1968 sinking of the Wahine ferry in Wellington Harbour and the A Millennium Ago exhibit, which depicts Māori creation stories.

The Attic gallery on the museum’s top floor has an eclectic collection displayed in a quirky steampunk-style with King Dick the lion (one of Wellington Zoo’s first stuffed animals) juxtapositioned alongside a display of Wellington-themed items relating to lions, and there is also a display about UFO sightings and a time machine, Ngā Hau, which blends cinema and performance art.

New Zealand Cricket Museum

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The New Zealand Cricket Museum is a small museum that has exhibits relating to New Zealand’s involvement in the game of cricket. It is well worth the walk down to Basin Reserve if you’re a cricket fan.

The museum is located in the Old Grandstand at Wellington’s Basin Reserve (also known as simply The Basin), which is New Zealand’s oldest test cricket ground.

Government Buildings Historic Reserve

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The Government Buildings Historic Reserve – commonly referred to as the Old Government Buildings – is an impressive wooden government building is situated across the road from the Beehive. The building dates from 1876 and up until 1998 it was the second-largest wooden building in the world.

This building has a beautiful interior with cast-iron fireplaces, sweeping staircases and native timbers.

It is now home to Victoria University of Wellington’s Law School, although the grounds are open to the public and it is also possible to visit the displays on the ground floor and the first floor Cabinet room.

Wellington Botanic Garden

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Wellington Botanic Garden is a peaceful place to kick back and relax. It consists of 25ha (62 acres) of parkland on the hillside between Thornton and Kelburn just a short cable car ride from the heart of the city.

The garden features the Begonia House (which contains both tropical and temperate plants), a duck pond and at night you can even see glowworms in the main garden area.

He Tohu – Archives New Zealand exhibition

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Archives New Zealand is responsible for maintaining New Zealand’s government records and the most important documents are on display at the He Tohu exhibition, which is jointly run by New Zealand’s National Library.

The exhibitions highlights include the 1835 Declaration of Independence of the Chiefs of New Zealand, the original 1840 Treaty of Waitangi and the 1893 Women’s Suffrage Petition (New Zealand was the first country in the world to give women equal voting rights).