Who, What, Where, Wellington?

Here's a quick pop quiz for you: What's the capital city of New Zealand? 

My first guess would have been Auckland, then perhaps Queenstown or Christchurch but nowhere on my list would Wellington have appeared. I think I speak for most people when I say that it's one of those cities that's slipped our radars (Kiwis and Geographers aside.) Having now visited, I'm still not convinced it deserves capital city status but it's a wonderful place nevertheless. 

Luckily we had our very own tour guide whilst there; a boy we'd met in Thailand who was born and raised in Wellington. He took us along the sea front and on into town where we sussed out the best coffee shops and chocolate cafés. Back down by the harbour we found a number of quirky art exhibitions hosted in various sea containers. Each one was as strange as the next but helped give the area a little more character. All around the city in fact we repeatedly came across odd little art pieces. There were wire fences decorated with heart shaped tape and entire walls covered in graffitied murals. Obscure but interesting! 

Wellington was our most Southerly stop on the North Island and was where we caught our ferry from to transfer to the South Island. The boat journey itself was quite something as we sailed down the still waters of the Cook Strait with mountains either side of us, keeping an eye out for albatross and dolphins along the way. New Zealand has so far been so beautiful that we're struggling to believe what people say about the South being better but we're certainly looking forward to finding out!