Dance Your Socks Off! Festival
Dance Your Socks Off! Festival is running throughout September.
Activities include such things as Hip Hop workshops, Roller Disco, Global Dance Celebration, and beginner's Rock 'n' Roll lessons.
You can find out what's happening when over that the Feeling Great website and the Feeling Great stands located all around Wellington.
Lord of the Rings Tours.
Lord of the Rings fans know that Wellington was the place that most of the filming and production work was done. Between October 1999 and December 2000, Wellington was 'middle earth'. And while no film sets remain from this time, there are a number of Wellington tour operators who run 'Lord of the Rings' tours that take you to the locations, tell you the secrets, and get you where the public usually cannot go.
Wellington Rover Tours is a small sightseeing company that offers The Rover Ring Tour which visits nine film locations around Wellington.
Flat Earth New Zealand Experiences has the Middle Earth Filming Locations Tour.
Hammonds Scenic Tours has the Palliser Bay & Scenery With Some LOTR Sites.
Wellington Movie Tours has two half day tours - the Wellington Movie Tour and the Northern Movie Tour. Or you can combine them into the Ultimate Movie Tour.
Southeast Asian Night Market.
Emmerse yourself in the atmosphere and smells of Southeast Asia with the Southeast Asian Night Market on August 16th at the TSB Bank Arena. Local southeast asian communities are joining together for this inauguaral event.
The communities - Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam, plus the Cambodian, Myanmar and Laotian - will maintain stalls selling crafts, arts, foods, and activities of Southeast Asia. Look out the Wayang Kulit puppeteers from Indonesia and a specialist batik printer from Malaysia, as well as demonstrations of traditional Southeast Asian games.
Street Address: Queens Wharf, Jervois Quay
Place: Wellington Central
Date and Time: Saturday 16th August 2pm - 10pm
Admission: Free
What's New at the Wellington Zoo.
It might be a little cool outside at the moment, but August is a great time to visit the zoo. All you have to do is put on a layer or two of clothing and head on out.
Located at 200 Daniell Street, Newtown, the Wellington Zoo is firm favorite with locals looking to get outside and commune with nature and animals. It was the first zoo in New Zealand, having celebrated it's 100th birthday in 2006.
There's over 500 animals at the zoo, living in enclosures that are designed to be as natural and similar to the environment they would inhabit in the wild.
The zoo is currently running $5 Winter Wednesdays only in August which is a great savings off the usual admission fee of $15 for adults and $7.50 for children.
Wellington Zoo
200 Daniell St, Wellington, New Zealand
04/381-6755
Web Site
Panoramic Wellington.
It's cold, wet, and windy outside but you still have the need to do some sightseeing. Normally, that would mean putting on layering up for warmth and rain and heading out the door, umbrella at the ready. But now, thanks to the internet, you can do your sightseeing indoors.
You can get over 30 panoramic views of Wellington with the click of a museum if you go to Panoramic Earth Wellington page.
This cold and wet Sunday, we visited the Victoria Peak Outlook, headed over to Point Jerningham, and even had a quick look inside Te Papa and the Museum of Wellington.
And it didn't cost a cent...
A Guide to Wellingtons's Public Art.
According to Frances Sutton, Wellington is the sculpture city of New Zealand and she has set out to prove it with her book, Art & About. Featuring the artists and artwork around Wellington's streets, parks, and gardens, the book provides a pocket guide to Wellington's outdoor sculptures. There is a map at the back of the book to help you find what's where on your travels.
My favorites - the Nikau Palms that support part of the Wellington Public Library and the Seven Steps to Heaven at Civic Square that form word ladder with one letter changing at each step.
You also learn more about Wellington's Art in Public Places at the Absolutely Postively Wellington website. They have a list of Gallery of Art in Public Places - Sculptures and Gallery of Art in Public Places - Memorials worth checking out.
Why are there (almost) no Maori Restaurants ?
Food and travel go hand in hand for most travellers. Seeking out traditional and indigenous foods is part of the whole travel experience. But finding out about traditional maori foods appears to be difficult. And finding places to try maori cusine seems to be limited.
My searches so far have uncovered that the traditional Maori hangi can be experienced as part of the Marae visit. But as for actual restaurants that serve up Maori cuisine, have only found one so far - Kai on the Bay in Wellington. But the search will continue - stay turned.
351 The Parade
Island Bay
Wellington
Ph: 04-383 6442
Licensed
Open: Tues-Fri 10am till late; Sat-Sun 9am
till late