 |
| Overlooking Wellington from the Brooklyn WWI Memorial. |
Wellington is an incredible city for walking. From the waterfront to the museums to the shops and restaurants on Cuba Street, walking around Wellington can keep you thoroughly entertained for a long time. If you venture away from the harbor, you will start to encounter the hills that surround Wellington. These hills are not for the faint of heart and, unfortunately, very few of them have switchbacks so you often end up climbing large staircases. Due to the rather rugged landscape around Wellington, you actually find many houses that you cannot drive to but, instead, have long staircases, sidewalks, or personal cable cars to get the owners and their belongings from the road to the house (more on these in a later blog).
Ross and I don't have a car and so we walk everywhere. When we first moved to Wellington, we quickly realized that we were woefully out of shape for the hills to get back to our apartment from really anywhere. We're at the top of a decent hill in Brooklyn, so any trip to the grocery store or the fruit and veg market ends in a trudge back to our apartment with backpacks loaded full of food. At this point, two months in, we are in much better shape but we have had to work for it!
There are many opportunities to get into the hills right around Wellington and if you're willing to tackle the requisite hills you will be rewarded with fabulous views of the city and harbor. In this post I'll talk about the hikes that, in my opinion, vie for "Best View of Wellington" - Mount Victoria and the Brooklyn Wind Turbine.
Mount Victoria
Located immediately east of downtown Wellington, Mount Victoria is 196m high and offers sweeping views of the city, waterfront, and harbor. You can also watch planes take off from or land at Wellington International Airport. The park around Mount Victoria was used for some of the first scenes in
The Fellowship of the Ring, if you are a LOTR fan. There is also a memorial to Richard Byrd (American Antarctic explorer) near the summit. There are a number of trails leading up Mount Victoria from downtown and along Oriental Parade or it is also possible to drive or take a bus. The top of the hill is very exposed, so this would not be a good hike/walk for a windy or rainy day.
 |
| Lord of the Rings filming locations! |
 |
| Looking south at the Byrd Memorial. It is designed to look like auroras. |
 |
| Richard Byrd Memorial - The rocks all came from Antarctica. |
 |
| Looking west at Wellington. |
 |
| Looking south toward the airport and Cook Strait. |
Brooklyn Wind Turbine
The Brooklyn Wind Turbine is easily visible from downtown Wellington and stands approximately 300m above sea level. Most of the walk to the turbine is along city roads and it is possible to drive the entire way. If you walk, you will approach the turbine through Polhill Reserve and walk along the predator-proof fence that borders Zealandia (
www.visitzealandia.com). The wind turbine was originally installed in 1993 and, prior to being upgraded, was the oldest wind turbine in New Zealand. It was originally installed as part of a research project looking at the feasibility of wind power. The original turbine could power approximately 100 homes, while the newer turbine generates enough power for 490 homes annually. It has even set international generation records for turbines of it's size (
http://www.windenergy.org.nz/brooklyn-wind-turbine).
 |
| Panorama from the Brooklyn Turbine (if you click on the picture, it will enlarge it). |
 |
| Looking out toward Cook Strait |
 |
| Overlooking Wellington and the harbor |
 |
| The Brooklyn Turbine, looking toward the Miramar Peninsula |
I, personally, think that the view from the Brooklyn Wind Turbine is much better than that from Mount Victoria but they are both fabulous.
No comments:
Post a Comment