What a beautiful place. It’s the capital and a university town with ~200,000 people. Our air bnb host was a private practice attorney with wife and 2 boys. Really nice people and a mother in law suite that worked perfect. We only stayed one full day and had a older gentleman as a private guide for the day. We went to two peaks that overlook the town, a great lunch at a beach restaurant and a tour of the Weta workshop. Weta is a company that makes movie stuff like scary creatures, as well as digital work for visual effects. They are most known for the Lord of the Rings work. They are part of the Miramar movie studio area in Wellington, which they tout as 3rd or 4th in the world. Next morning we take a ferry across the Cook Straight to the South Island of New Zealand and head to Hanmer Springs in the mountains. The Cook Straight is known for having nasty sea conditions, but it was smooth as silk for us.
