scavenger huntHey, it’s Welling­ton Anniver­sary Week­end this com­ing week­end! That’s pret­ty excit­ing. There’s a great sto­ry in the newest issue of Fish­head all about the games and races they used to have in old­en times to cel­e­brate, but in cur­rent times, we have The Great Scav­enger Hunt.

Cap­i­tal E (still very much alive even though they have closed their build­ing pend­ing a final engi­neer’s report) has put this fam­i­ly day on for the past cou­ple of years, and it’s lots of fun. We’ll let them tell you about it in their own words.

With new des­ti­na­tions to find, clues to solve and tasks to com­plete, Welling­ton’s won­der­ful water­front is set to host the return of The Great Scav­enger Hunt!

Com­plete the clues to find each des­ti­na­tion, and with each loca­tion found a new chal­lenge will be set and a stamp added to your map. For scav­engers who like a chal­lenge there will be six bonus clues to solve this year! Col­lect the extra clues from the char­ac­ters and Cap­i­tal E staff on your route and work out the answer to our cryp­tic puz­zle. When you have the bonus answer and have col­lect­ed all your stamps, drop in your com­plet­ed clue sheet to the Muse­um of Welling­ton City & Sea or City Gallery Welling­ton and 12 lucky scav­engers will be drawn at the end of the day to win a spe­cial Scav­enger Hunt prize pack!

This year there will be lunchtime enter­tain­ment at 1pm on Queens Wharf under the sails, so bring along a pic­nic and refu­el while watch­ing some of the best local per­form­ers. There’ll be an amaz­ing prize on offer for the win­ner of the Scav­enger Hunt cos­tume com­pe­ti­tion — the best dressed Welling­ton-themed fan­cy dress, cho­sen at the lunch time enter­tain­ment, will be fly­ing high with a heli­copter ride from Helipro!

Scav­engers can start hunt­ing at any of the loca­tions along the route between 10am and 4pm. Get a head start and down­load your map here, or pick up a copy on the day, then get your mag­ni­fy­ing glass­es at the ready and pre­pare to join the adven­ture around Wellington’s beau­ti­ful water­front. A guar­an­teed fun day out for the whole fam­i­ly.

WHEN: Sun­day 20 Jan­u­ary (Rain day Mon­day 21)
HUNTING TIME: Any­time from 10am — 4pm
WHERE: Venues along Welling­ton water­front — pick up a map from City Gallery Welling­ton or Welling­ton Muse­um of City & Sea or down­load your copy here.
PRICE: Gold coin dona­tion
AGE: All ages — great for 8+

A Welling­ton-themed cos­tume eh? We sug­gest going as The Bee­hive, or as Flight of the Con­chords, or — if you can grow a big enough mous­tache very quick­ly, Enzo Bresolin would be a great dis­guise!