KEY POINTS:
Think Wellington, think harbour, hills, hotels, the Beehive, business people, the cable car, and Te Papa, right? Wrong.
"Then it's Wellington we're coming to! It's time, she says, it's time surely for us to change lines, change tongues, they speak so differently down here." So reads a Vincent O'Sullivan text sculpture on the Wellington waterfront, one of 19 such plaques which bears a quote from the poems or prose of New Zealand writers with strong Wellington ties.
Peppered along the waterfront between Frank Kitts Park and Te Papa, these text sculptures - which make up The Writers Walk - are a visually dramatic glimpse into how our wordsmiths viewed Wellington and its picturesque harbour.
The last time I wandered along the waterfront I had no idea this trail existed, but this time I keep eyes peeled for the sculptures, some splayed at surprising points like on the harbour rocks.
When I lived in Wellington as a student in the late 1990s, I was more interested in saving for kebabs and bottles of wine than uncovering the city's hidden treasures.
But a decade later with a little more money in my pocket, it's hard to know what to do first. The city's pulsing with things to do and see, many free and most within walking distance. After all, who needs a car in this village-sized city that's so easy to traverse on foot?
The prettiest walk, and the one that gives a real sense of the city, is along the harbour's edge. We follow the public walkway from Queen's Wharf - passing parks, tree groves, wetlands, old ships, cafes, a Chinese Garden, playgrounds, statues, sculptures, buskers and an open-air exhibition - all the way around to Oriental Bay.
If you're after a shopping fix, you don't need to go any further than the compact central city - in fact it takes just 20 minutes to walk from the corporate-oriented Lambton Quay end, down boutique-studded Willis St, to car-free Cuba Mall. It took me a little longer though - funky boutiques and design stores demand attention and dash implausible notions of spending little on my trip away.
For a full heads-up, insider's guide to the city, www.texture.co.nz profiles and points you to the top shops, cafes, restaurants, galleries, design stores and bars. As many are dotted a few blocks away from the shopping precinct, you might not know they're there otherwise. Texture also offers an invaluable events guide.
Just a short ramble from the far end of Cuba St is quirky Aro Valley. For decades the haunt of students and cash-strapped artists, the valley's corridor Aro St has recently burgeoned into a bustling shopping strip, with boutiques, eateries, and one of the best fish-and-chip shops in the land.
We wander up the steeply sloping, narrow side streets, peeking at the wee wooden houses adorned with stained-glass windows and merry murals, and gazing up the hill where more seemingly doll-sized houses cling ferociously to the hillside.
If you're keen to stretch your legs a bit further, turn left off Aro St along Holloway Rd and into the Waimapihi Reserve, which feels more like a storybook forest than New Zealand bush.
Not far from Aro, only minutes drive from the city and smack-bang next to Wellington's biggest suburb, is Karori Sanctuary. The unique 250ha "ark", where native bush is being restored and endangered species are breeding once again, feels like a secret valley.
It's ringed by a world-first 8.6km fence which clings to the steep hill and keeps predators from getting through, over or under.
The sanctuary runs regular tours through the bush, wetlands, along a floating bridge, over a steep dam, and past a 19th-century goldmine. Night walks where you can spy glow-worms, kiwi and the nocturnal tuatara are popular, but we plump for the one-hour daytime sanctuary introduction tour along an easy walking trail.
With the help of our guide, I can hear, and sometimes spy, weka, saddlebacks, bellbirds, tui, kaka and hihi (stitchbirds). In fact it's the only place on the mainland you'll find the hihi, the saddleback or the little spotted kiwi.
After a full day's shopping, sightseeing and bird spotting, it's time to pop into the Matterhorn - named Bartender magazine's fifth-best bar in the world. Dimly lit with a laid-back feel, it'd be perfect for clandestine meetings in cosy nooks indoors or outdoors. The easy-on-the-eye, attentive waiters serve up fresh, unpretentious food which sets the benchmark for Wellington cuisine - and I've never found it so hard to choose between desserts.
Later in the evening, the places to be for drinks and gigs - Havana, Alice, Mighty Mighty, Good Luck, Bodega - are all on or within tottering distance of Cuba St. But most night owls seem to be installed at the end of Courtenay Place in Sandwiches, which doubles as a restaurant and bar hosting international and local music talent.
The Wellington music scene's smouldering, and it'd be hard to find a weekend without a gig or festival that tickles your fancy. We head along to Sandwiches SummerSet festival, which gathers top artists from around the country and the world into the Basin Reserve, and enjoy Shapeshifter, Black Seeds and international DJs.
Heading home on the plane, I decide Vincent O'Sullivan was right: Wellington does have a different language - and hidden treasures galore. And it was sunny all weekend: not a drop of rain until we touched down in Auckland.
- Detours, HoS
