Wellington 'one of most boring places on earth'

Hamiltonians can breathe a sigh of relief. Wellington - and not the perennially slated Waikato town - has been labelled New Zealand's most boring city.

At least that's according to English author Adam Russ, whose new book 101 Places Not To Visit: The Essential Guide To The World's Most Miserable, Ugly, Boring and Inbred Destinations offers Wellington as its only New Zealand destination to avoid.

Our capital city rates four out of five stars in the boredom rankings, making it the equal of Adamstown on Pitcairn Island (where the "most likely cause of death is declining a marriage proposal") and Sofia in Bulgaria (renowned for "buildings so ugly that even the Nazis couldn't be bothered to raze them to the ground").

Fans of the UK television series The Office will, however, be glad to know that Slough - home of fictional boor David Brent - beat the Windy City with a five-star rating. Just like the "overgrown village" that is Australia's insect-plagued Brisbane.

Not surprisingly, Mr Russ's opinion of our negligible cultural heritage and main attractions - shearing contests, apparently - isn't shared by many Wellingtonians.

Wade Lipsham from Sandwiches, a live music venue in Wellington, described the rating as "absolutely ridiculous. He's obviously judging our culture without coming here." Mr Lipsham said Wellington music acts such as Fat Freddy's Drop and Shapeshifter were having an impact on the world stage.

"From a musical point of view he's well off the mark," he said.

Fair Go's Kevin Milne, who has lived in the Wellington region for three decades, was surprised at Russ's inference that Wellingtonians didn't know how to make proper hamburgers.

"That is one of the reasons that Wellington is a great place," he said with pride.

"People in Wellington like beetroot in their burgers. They like to be different. They don't like to follow the same old formula that may succeed every-where else."

Mr Milne also said Wellington was undoubtedly "the thinking person's city".

Though the TV host regularly flies to Auckland to film his top-rating consumer show, "it would take billions of dollars for me to move elsewhere, like Auckland," he said.

Actress Geraldine Brophy has lived in every major New Zealand city and was happy to defend the city she's called home for the past two years.

She said Wellington was a "fantastic city", especially for the arts, and thought the London-based author might well have suffered from a case of sour grapes.

"I think perhaps somebody didn't get quite the service in a cafe bar that they might have wanted while they were writing the book," she said.

Ginette McDonald, who achieved fame as 80s icon Lyn of Tawa, said she had nothing but the highest praise for her stomping ground.

"I cannot speak more highly of a place that is nestled in the valley with the women's prison at one end and the old psychiatric hospital at the other. There's a lovely symmetry to it. "

Chris Lamers, general marketing manager at Positively Wellington Tourism, admitted he was initially put out when he read Russ' lowdown on Wellington, but was no longer so concerned after reading the rest of the book.

"We're happy to crow from the rooftops when we succeed, so one tongue-in-cheek piece isn't going to ruin the world."

It was better to be spoken about than not spoken about at all, he said.

"With people like Cate Blanchett singing our praises and King Kong premieres I don't think we need to worry."

- HERALD ON SUNDAY