Wellington NZ: comfort, quiet, close to city

Ours is a characterful, 3-bedroomed house in a quiet, sunny location with lovely views just 5 minutes` drive from the centre of Wellington, New Zealand`s compact, harbourside capital city.

It is a 1930`s colonial-style, weatherboard house which has been extensively renovated, while retaining key period features. It is an `upside-down` house on the side of a hill, with the living spaces, a shower room and separate toilet upstairs at street level, and 3 bedrooms, full bathroom, study (formerly a 4th bedroom) and a separate laundry on the floor below. There is a carport out front and access to the house is via a short, gently sloping paved path.

There are two large, comfortable living spaces, both with fully-functioning open fireplaces. The first room combines the kitchen, dining and lounge areas. This opens on one side to a sunny, sheltered courtyard garden via 2 sets of French doors, and on the other side via French doors to a balcony with views. We are keen cooks, so the kitchen is well equipped and has good quality appliances including a Neff oven and Bosch dishwasher. The second space is a separate, book-lined living room with comfortable sofas, a desk and a piano.

The bedrooms - one queen, one small double, one king single - all have built-in wardrobes and chests of drawers. The main bedroom opens via French doors onto a large deck/balcony overlooking the lower garden and lovely views through woodland to hills. There are steps down to the small lower garden from both the main bedroom and laundry.

Gas-fired ducted air central heating throughout. Gas infinity water heater.

We enjoy all of the benefits of close proximity to the capital city centre and all of its amenities, together with a very quiet location where we can enjoy birdsong and lovely views.

We would like to include car swapping in any arrangement. We have a late model VW Tiguan, automatic.

About the location

Wadestown is an older, good-quality, leafy suburb 5 minutes drive from the centre of Wellington. It is a safe, peaceful neighbourhood which offers enjoyable local walks: trees, native birds* (including Kaka - one of our native parrots) hills and harbour views.

*https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/apr/18/penguins-in-the-pond-kiwis-in-back-yard-how-a-city-brought-back-its-birds-aoe

We treat Wellington City as our ‘village’, although Wadestown itself has two small sets of shops which include a couple of cafes, several take-away food services and a small ‘corner’ store. There are two large supermarkets with ample car parking within a 5 minute drive and a wide range of retail options, restaurants, cafes, bars, cultural attractions and more in and around the city centre.

Depending on traffic, we are approximately 20-30 minutes’ drive from Wellington Airport, 10-15 minutes from the inter-island ferry services, 5 minutes from the railway station and CBD. A regular bus service – every 20 minutes - runs from the end of our street down through the city centre.

Wellington and nearby attractions:

Wellington and the surrounding region offer a wide range of attractions. I`ve listed just some of these (grouped by `outdoors` and `indoors`) but am happy to provide additional suggestions if you let me know what interests you.

Outdoor Activities

• Drive to the top of Mt Victoria for panoramic views across the whole city and beyond - good for getting a sense of the city

• Harbourside walks/rides or rent scooters, e-bikes or a ‘Crocodile’ multi-seater pedal ‘bike’. The harbour frontage from Queen’s Wharf all around Oriental Bay is very pedestrian/bike/scooter friendly and lovely. There are some small beaches and several cafes en-route.
o E-scooter rentals - https://flamingoscooters.com/city/wellington
o E-bike rentals (and tours) - https://switchedonbikes.co.nz/
o Crocodile bike rentals - https://www.crocbikes.co.nz/
There’s also a bustling open-air market next to Te Papa Museum every Sunday which, apart from fresh produce has an ‘avenue’ of street food vendors of different cuisines.

• Kayak on the harbour - https://fergskayaks.co.nz/pages/wellington

• Ferry across the harbour – from Queen’s Wharf to Day’s Bay or to Matiu/Somes Island. Only recommended in good weather. https://eastbywest.co.nz/timetables-and-fares
While the drive around the Harbour to Day’s Bay and Eastbourne is worth doing, if you fancy getting out on the water, the ferry ride is fun and there’s a beach and several cafes awaiting you on the other side.
Matiu/Somes Island is also worth a visit. Now a scientific reserve, it has a long pre-colonial Māori history and was also used as both a quarantine centre and wartime internment camp. Take your own food and drink and enjoy the walking trails and views.

• Ride the Cable Car from Lambton Quay (one of Wellington’s main shopping streets) up to the top of the Botanic Gardens. Lovely views from the top. Either have a brief wander and ride back down, or go for a longer walk down through the gardens. NB if there’s a cruise ship in town the queues will be ridiculously long.

• Wellington Gardens – including the Botannic Garden and Otari/Wilton’s Bush https://wellingtongardens.nz/

• Zealandia – a lovely nature reserve just outside the city centre which has been largely responsible for the `rebirding` of Wellington. It is situated in a valley which includes former reservoirs for the city. There are lots of different walking paths from easy to quite challenging. It has a slight ‘Jurassic Park’ / valley that time forgot feel to it, without the dinosaurs. There are shuttle busses that you can take, or parking for your own car. https://www.visitzealandia.com/

• Drives round the bays (with some pleasant, simple cafes en route)
o round past the airport, Shelly Bay, Scorching Bay, Karaka Bay. You could combine this with a visit to Weta Cave in Miramar
o or around to the other side of the harbour to Days Bay and on to Eastbourne where there’s a pleasant esplanade walk, and further to Cape Palliser Lighthouse
• Drive over to Makara and a rugged coast line walk - about 30 minutes out of town

Indoor Activities:
Museums and Art Galleries
• Te Papa – Wellington’s waterfront ‘museum’. Has visiting exhibitions as well as permanent collections/displays https://www.tepapa.govt.nz/
• Takina – a new convention/exhibition centre opposite Te Papa. https://www.takina.co.nz
• City Art Gallery – https://citygallery.org.nz/
• Wellington Museum – Jervois Quay https://www.museumswellington.org.nz/wellington-museum/
• Katherine Mansfield House and Garden - https://www.katherinemansfield.com/
• Petone Settlers Museum - https://www.huttcity.govt.nz/arts-and-culture/museums/petone-settlers-museum
• The Dowse Art Museum - https://dowse.org.nz/
• Weta Workshop/Cave – Miramar https://tours.wetaworkshop.com/wetacave/

Cinemas/Movie Theatres
In central Wellington there`s old-fashioned style Embassy Theatre at the far end of Courtney Place. It has one huge auditorium and two smaller, more modern ones. There’s also the Lighthouse Cuba cinema which is part of a small chain of slightly more ‘arthouse’ cinemas. The difficult trick with both of these is finding nearby parking. The large Reading 10-cinema complex is currently closed due to earthquake-prone issues. So, if we want to catch a movie, we tend to head to the suburbs:
• The Penthouse Cinema – in Brooklyn, about 20 mins drive from home. It’s a privately owned 4-screen complex housed in a (mostly) deco building. 3 good sized screens/auditoriums and one very small one. They have their own carpark (reasonable rates) but it’s normally easy to find a nearby free street park https://www.penthousecinema.co.nz/
• Lighthouse Petone – in Petone, a rather charming old suburb at the inner end of Wellington Harbour, about 20 mins drive from home, along the edge of the harbour. Small free carpark opposite, and usually plenty of free nearby street parking available. 52 Beach Street, Petone

Restaurants, Cafes and Bars:

Wellington has a large number of place to eat and drink, with options to suit all tastes and preferences. Let us know what interest you and we will provide suggestions.

Conditions of exchange

Facilities

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