Wellington In Brief
 

Could somebody from Wellington or a familiar traveler map out a route for us to take from Wellington International Airport through town? We are driving to another destination and will be returning to the city later on. But we would like to drive by some of the beautiful suburbs like Thorndon, Oriental Bay, Mt. Victoria, etc. in an organized manner before heading out. Incidentally, this will be on a Saturday morning, so traffic may not be an issue.

If you have enough time, head south from the airport, on Stewart Duff Drive and head south east around Moa Point Roa - this will take you into the seaside suburb of Seatoun, arry on around the bays past Worser Bay, Sunshine Bay and around the point to Shelly Bay coming out at the north end of the Airport - go through the two round abouts heading into the city. Drive up Wellington Road. At the end of Wellington Rd, the main flow of traffic into the city turns 90 degrees right into Ruahine street. Just before this 90 degree turn the road swings left and goes further up the hill to join onto Crawford Rd. Turn right here and at the brow of the hill, there is a road called Alexander Drive - turn hard right into it. This road goes along the spine of the hill to the look outs at the top of Mount Victoria. After you have stopped to admire the views from here, if you follow your map carefully can drop down into Oriental Parade down some narrow streets. This route would give you a really good appreciation of Wellington.
Alternatively you could bypass Alexandra Rd and carry on around Evans Bay Parade into the city.
If your destination takes you out via State Highway 1 and the Kapiti Coast - it would be well worth your time to make a short diversion up to the lookout on Paekakariki Hill Raod - the views from here are awesome - it only takes about 5 mins to drive up to the lookout, but the road is windy so it feels longer. Just be careful exiting Paekakariki Hill Road when you come back - it is a terrible intersection if you are heading across into the township of Paekakariki or North onto SH1 - bad enough for us who are used to driving on the left. Much safer to head south and go into the Fishermans Table restaurant carpark to turn around - it is on the right as you head south about 1/2 a mile - it has good turning in bays and good visability. Saturday morning traffic can be bad on SH1 as people head up to the coast for the day.

OK. Wellington is not that big. Give your self a hour and just explore. Drive to the top of Mt Vic and look at the views. You will see how compact the city really is.

To get to the airport I suggest going round the bays. Drive round Oriental Parade and keep going until you get to the aiport signs about 15 mins later. On Saturday it actually may be a bit busy as all the joggers etc are out.


Kiwis2 has some good ideas. It is a nice drive but that is no longer Wellington up the coast. How much time will you have??

Thank you for the precise directions. I am impressed with the attention to detail, and, although I am well-read on the area and have pored over maps, etc., I will now approach the beginning of our trip with sustained confidence. Incidentally, do you have any words of advice on a drive up the Kapiti Coast such a Paekakariki Hill Rd. or Paraparaumu Beach,etc?(we promise not to mispronounce these names when we get there!) We are looking for a few hours of driving and admiring before heading to Martinborough where we will "relax" for a few days!

If you do have a few hours, I would highly recommend driving around the Pauatahanui inlet to the Pauatahanui Village - lovely wetlands area. From there drive up the Paekakariki Hill Road - at this take you through a farm valley and at the top of the hill you go through a cutting and come out with the most awesome view of Kapiti Coast - the lookout is just a short way along from the cutting. Then carry on down the hill. If you can negotiate your way through the intersection, call into Paekakariki Village - a really small coastal village with a great cafe and cute church. It's worth a drive along the The Parade. From here it is only another 10 mins drive up SH1 to Paraparumu Beach (Para-para-umu. The beach area is nice but from the lookout and Paekakariki you will already have a good apprecation of the area. I would suggest you head south from Paekakariki and turn left onto Grays Road which will take you on the other side of the Pauatahanui outlet and then across over the Haywards Hill to the Hutt Valley to carry on up to Martinborough. You could save some nmiles by going up SH1 to Paekakariki and up the hill to the lookout and then carry on to Pauatahanui and across Haywards, but you would miss the amazing sensation you get when you come through the cutting out of farmland onto the coast and you would not really get to see much of the Pauatahanui Inlet.

Thank you very much for incredible advice. We will be there next week and be sure to take both routes recommended! Steven