Words by Janet Dalley
The Travel Makers team recently enjoyed a weekend in Wellington, New Zealand. The trip allowed the Travel Makers team to experience the Singapore Airlines direct service from Canberra to Wellington, and gain valuable knowledge of this exciting city.
We flew on the 11am service out of Canberra on Friday morning and our accommodation was hosted by the fabulous Museum Art Hotel newly branded QT Museum Wellington. We enjoyed fully hosted canapés and drinks on arrival in the beautiful Hippopotamus Bar, and this was arranged by director of sales Chrissy Cummings.
Saturday afternoon was spent at Weta Workshop. The world leading design and special effects facility, has won awards for work on an amazing list of movies including Avatar, District 9, Lord of the Rings, Narnia, King Kong, Mad Max, The BFG and the remake of the classic kids series Thunderbirds are go. There was a convenient pick-up and drop-off service included (partially hosted) which was very useful.
Saturday night was hosted by Lilly and Wellington Tourism at The Havana Bar Restaurant. The restaurant serves very impressive Tapas style share plates, and we then enjoyed drinks up on the roof top of a bar called Dirty Little Secret - this was a fabulous finish to the evening.
Sunday morning we were hosted again by Wellington Tourism, and we experienced a three-hour 'Zest Food City Tour' taking in a multitude of samplings, which started with coffee at MOJO’s, one of New Zealand’s most respected, independent coffee roasters and cafe operators. There are lots of these stores around the world, but each store is unique unlike the usual franchise model. We then moved on to numerous other eateries including fresh food markets and the waterfront market, whihc is only open on Sundays. We finished with gelato and sorbet at Gelissimo, where they use 80% fresh organic milk as opposed to powdered variety more commonly used. The flavours were amazing - you have to taste!
A 'Te Papa Highlights' guided tour finished off our action packed weekend, and the stunningly realistic depiction of the Gallipoli exhibit (thanks to the talent at WETA) left everyone moved and emotional.
After a pub dinner at The Establishment on Courtney Place, which was very good value for only $10.00, and a big "Cheers" to Wellington we were back to the airport for the 9.20pm service back to Canberra.
If you would like to visit Wellington for a weekend (or longer), don't hesitate to get in touch with us. We would highly recommend!
