Wellington, nestled on the southern tip of New Zealand’s North Island, isn’t a massive city, but the more time you spend there, the more secrets it reveals. We’ve been a few times recently (see our Windy Weekend and Beervana posts) and are always blown away by the mix of beauty, culture, great beer, and nerdy little details that keep drawing us back. Here are a dozen of our favorites from our latest trip — not an exhaustive list, but definitely the ones that made us smile.

1. Visit Hobbit’s hideaway

New Zealand is famous for its Lord of the Rings filming locations, and Wellington has its fair share. Just a short walk from the city centre, you can step straight into Middle-earth at Mount Victoria. The path is a bit of an uphill hike, and we even managed to approach from the wrong direction, but when we finally found it, the payoff was real. Cue the selfies.

Location: Mount Victoria Summit, Mount Victoria, Wellington 6011, New Zealand

2. Find the LOTR costume surprise

Can you really say you’ve been to Wellington if you haven’t ridden the Cable Car? It’s one of the city’s most-visited landmarks, and for good reason: funiculars are always a win, and this one comes with panoramic views of the harbour. The real surprise, though, was at the top, where we stumbled across some Lord of the Rings costumes. We spent ages admiring the detail — a bonus fandom moment after the ride.

Location: 1A Upland Road, Kelburn, Wellington 6012, New Zealand (Near the Cable Car Museum)

3. Watch the Old Bank clock

The Old Bank Clock is located in, well, The Old Bank Arcade in downtown Wellington. This mechanical animated clock might not look like much 59 minutes of the hour, but on the hour it opens up to reveal tableaus from Wellington’s past (some of the images have not aged well) Top tip, go upstairs to the upper level to get a closer look at the animations.

Location: 233-237 Lambton Quay, Wellington Central, Wellington 6011, New Zealand

4. Shop at Arty Bees Books

Arty Bees Books is an independent secondhand bookseller on the delightfully named Manners Street. Do we need more books in our house? Absolutely not. Did we happily spend way too long hunting through the shelves anyway? Of course. We even managed to find treasures we didn’t know we wanted. And this is just one of the many secondhand bookshops in Wellington — we counted at least six! (Yes, a few came home with us — books, that is, not shops.)

Location: 106 Manners Street, Te Aro, Wellington 6011, New Zealand

5. Shop at an (almost) year-round Christmas shop

OK, hear me out. I know most people won't read Christmas as a nerdy thing. But what if you find that really perfectly niche ornament for a friend (or yourself) that speaks to your love of windmills or Snoopy or pink candy (not blue, but pink)? And what if you find that ornament when you’re travelling to New Zealand? Well, then every year when you’re trimming your tree you will pull that ornament out of that jumbled box and smile and remember your time in Wellington (and your love of Snoopy). You’re with me, right?

Location - 57 Willis Street, Wellington (check for shop opening dates)

6. Ride the free electric boat ride in Zealandia

We have written about our amazing visit to Zealandia before, but inside the park there is a free electric boat tour, run by volunteers, that operates on weekends, public holidays, school holidays. The boat tour cuts quietly though the lower valley lake where you can get a close up look at the birds making their homes along the shorelines. Rides are free but donations/koha is encouraged to help with running costs

Location - 53 Waiapu Road, Karori, Wellington 6012, New Zealand (there is a free shuttle from the The Wellington Cable Car Museum to Zealandia)

7. See the bird of the century mural (featuring John Oliver)

Speaking of birds, you may remember back in 2023 the ‘Bird of the Century’ competition. This was picked up by US talk show host John Oliver who backed the pūteketek to win. And win it did, more than 350,000 ballots were cast from almost 200 countries, crashing the voting verification system, and delaying the result by two days. The win has been commemorated by artist Kiran Parbhu with a massive mural with not just the pūteketek and John, but other native New Zealand birds as well.

Location - 17 Ghuznee Street in Wellington

8. Take Garage Project’s wild workshop tour

“On these tours, you’ll be taken through a range of weird and wonderful beers and wines made in the brewery as you walk through the barrels and tanks, learning about the process of brewing and cellaring, with some delicious morsels to match.” Tours are $45NZ per person and do require a certain amount of fitness as you will be going up and down a few stairs.

Location: 7 Furness Lane, Te Aro, Wellington 6011, New Zealand

9. Have a vegan jackfruit burger at Mean Doses

As vegetarians who like both craft beer and travel, we really appreciate when a venue offers something other than just a mushroom burger or some bland pasta. So on our last visit to Wellington, the day after Beervana, we had a little time to visit a few venues in town. Imagine our surprise when we rocked up to Mean Doses and spied a jackfruit burger on the menu. Now, we weren’t particularly hungry at that point, but that never stopped us before. (we were mostly there for the beer). But oh. My. gawd. This was everything. Tasty, moist, full of flavour. It was probably closer to a loose meat sandwich than a traditional ‘burger’, but yes, this is one of those things that your meat eating friends would totally enjoy too. And the beer was pretty awesome too. BONUS NERDY POINTS: play the retro arcade games over a few beers.

Location: 66 Tory Street, Te Aro, Wellington 6011, New Zealand

10. Munch on the epic SnackaChangi Chips

We discovered SnackaChangi chips when we packed a picnic for Zealandia. The bags caught our eye with their retro monster-movie graphics and ridiculous copywriting (“made from 100% free range non-caged potatoes”; sweet chili flavour with a “hint of scorpion venom”). As nerds of snacks, puns, and film references, we couldn’t resist. Happily, the chips are as good as the packaging — crunchy, bold, and addictive. We’ve since tried a few flavours and are always impressed by the humour tucked into every bag.

11. See the colossal squid

The world’s largest colossal squid ever caught is on permanent display at Te Papa — and it’s the only one you can see anywhere in the world. One of the most fascinating details we learned: measuring a squid isn’t straightforward, since preserved specimens can shrink by up to 22% when dehydrated in alcohol. Scientists rely on the beak (which isn’t prone to shrinkage) to gauge the true size. Nerdy marine biology fact unlocked. Find out more info here

Location: 55 Cable Street, Te Aro, Wellington 6011, New Zealand

12. Check out the Cultural pedestrian street crossing signs

Around Waitangi Park in downtown Wellington, you may notice that the pedestrian crossing lights are just a little different. Not the traditional ‘little green man’ but images of the haka. A ‘haka’ is a traditional Māori ceremonial performance performed by men (tangata) and women (wahine) These were installed in 2019 as part of the 2019 Te Matatini festival, the largest celebration of traditional Māori performing arts excellence in the world. A small detail, but an important step in cultural visibility and tourist education.

It turns out there are a lot more interesting pedestrian signs around Wellington including one that celebrates Kate Sheppard, the leader of the suffrage movement which ‘resulted in New Zealand becoming the first country to introduce voting for women in 1893’. Find out more here.

Final thoughts

Wellington is one of those cities that keeps rewarding curiosity. You can climb into Middle-earth one moment, marvel at a colossal squid the next, and then end the day with a jackfruit burger and a cloally brewed pint. The joy is in the mix — film, food, science, art, and those small cultural details that make you pause. It’s not always just about checking off big-ticket sights, but about chasing down the interesting corners. And that, for us, is what makes Wellington wonderfully nerdy.

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