The special thing about Wellington

My time in Wellington was greatly influenced by living and working with Andrew and Johanna, which is why Wellington has become one of my favorite cities.

However, I also did many other activities that made me fascinated by this city.

The first impressive thing is the combination of nature, city, and culture. Wellington is the first city in New Zealand that manages to combine these different factors. This is also attempted in Auckland and Tauranga, but in Auckland, it is often artificially created nature, and in my opinion, the culture is lost there. In Tauranga, there is a lot of nature with Mount Manganui, but the Maori culture is not palpable there. Wellington is particularly exceptional with the Te Papa Museum, which keeps this culture alive very well, as well as several other Maori buildings in the city. The nature is represented by Mount Kaukau, Mount Victoria, and finally by the harbor, which is only used for export to a small extent. All of this makes Wellington quite extraordinary.

The Te Papa Museum is, of course, one of the places that make Wellington very special to me.

But also the Kuba Street, a street in the city center, which is a bit more unique and where you can find many second-hand shops and special stores. And on Kuba Street, you can find the best ice cream in Wellington, which is owned by a German.

I was also very impressed by the Underground Market, which takes place every Saturday from 10 am to 4 pm at the harbor. There you can find many unusual and mostly handcrafted specialties.

And you have a very special view of Wellington from Mount Kaukau, which is why this hike is well worth it. Especially in good weather, because then you can see the South Island, which is very breathtaking.

There are still many things I haven't done in Wellington, such as hiking up Mount Victoria or taking a ride on the cable car. But this is partly because I needed some rest and time in one place during the last few weeks of my trip. And on the other hand, it is because I will come back to Wellington and have time to explore this city.

But I have to say already that Wellington is an incredible city with a lot of character and that is just special.