This is the exten­ded ver­sion of today’s piece in the sum­mer sec­tion of the Domin­ion Post.

It’s sum­mer and hope­fully you’re on hol­i­day. Even­ings should be stretched out pleas­antly in front of you, full of pos­sib­il­ity and excite­ment. So how are you going to spend your time? If you’re any­thing like us in the Wel­ling­tonista, you’ll be head­ing out to a bar. But in a town full of places keen to take your money, where should you choose? We have some sug­ges­tions. 
 
If you’re meet­ing a big group of people:
The garden bar of the South­ern Cross is a lovely space with plenty of room to assemble large crowds in. Parts are under cov­er in case it’s rain­ing (yes, it’s going to rain) and if it’s cold enough they’ll even give you blankets and hot water bottles so you can con­tin­ue smoking. Beer comes in jugs and you can get a pretty good range of food as well, and enter­tain yourselves play­ing Giant Jenga. Expect glasses to get broken. 
 
If you wish to hide away from the sun OR watch the most inter­est­ing street­life:
Good Luck­’s base­ment bar set­ting and air con­di­tion­ing plus the wide cock­tail range have always made it a really good place to escape to if it’s just too damn hot out­side, but since last sum­mer they have upped the ante with an enclosed out­door space right slap bang in the middle of Cuba Mall where you can still get table ser­vice and watch the world go by. 
 
If you want to feel like you’re in a new city:
Wel­ling­ton can get a little claus­tro­phobic at times, espe­cially when all the pub­lic ser­vants are unchained from their desks for two weeks, so if you want to feel like you’re some­where that you’re not, check out Betty’s on Blair Street. Their cun­ning digit­al pro­ject­ors – if applied with enough moji­tos – will make you believe that you are in New York, or pos­sibly Cuba, depend­ing on whatever the images de jour dis­played across three walls are. 
 
If you want to drink at a bar you might not have tried yet:
Head to Pol­lux off the lobby of the Opera House on Man­ners Street. It’s a small space but they have a great wine list, cup­cakes and will make you exactly the kind of cock­tail you’re after. You’ll feel like a reg­u­lar after one drink. 
 
If you’re some­what of a beer enthus­ist: 
Feel like a chal­lenge to com­plete over the sum­mer? Try every beer on offer at Hashigo Zake under­neath Zib­bibo in the old police cells on Tarana­ki Street. It’s prob­ably fair to warn you in advance though that they claim to have over 200 vari­et­ies in stock at any one time they stock a met­ric butt­load of beer (their site lists over 90 kinds), but at least you can order up some deli­ciously salty edam­ame as a healthy(ish) snack to go along side your hoppy delights from around the world.