I had a busy year, which shows in my poor post­ing record recent­ly. Despite the man­i­fold rea­sons to be cheer­less, there were also plen­ty of good things hap­pen­ing in Welling­ton: on the water­front, up Cuba St and all over town.

Tarana­ki Wharf Precinct: While it took a while for Te Rauku­ra (the offi­cial name of the Whare­wa­ka) to house any waka, the build­ing and its asso­ci­at­ed land­scap­ing have been a huge boost for the water­front. The green lawns that step down to the water have proved tremen­dous­ly pop­u­lar, and Kara­ka café has struck a mix of high-qual­i­ty meals and afford­able counter food that helps it engage with the space rather than colonis­ing it. Com­bined with the open­ing up of the kara­ka grove and the advent of free Wi-Fi, this has enlivened a vital cor­ner of the water­front.

The revival of upper Cuba St: The top two blocks of Cuba St have lan­guished in the wake of Karo Dri­ve’s dis­rup­tion, but this year the life began to return. It’s a rel­a­tive­ly bou­tiquey, gen­tri­fied life com­pared to the organ­ic pre-bypass messi­ness, but there are some gen­uine­ly afford­able vin­tage trea­sures at Par­ti­cles of Time and Aeon to go with the more cal­cu­lat­ed whim­sy of Emma and The Pow­der Room. My favourite new place is Arthur’s, with its hearty chap­pish food and cosy retro feel: tuck into some black pud­ding and bub­ble & squeak while eye­ing up the pith hel­mets in the shop win­dows across the street. 2012 may see one or two oth­er new cafés or restau­rants open up in the vicin­i­ty, so with luck the revival will con­tin­ue.

Craft beer goes main­stream: We’re occa­sion­al­ly accused of being pre­ten­tious hip­sters, but on the con­trary, we’re some­times glad when our favourite things emerge from the under­ground. On the pub scene this year, beery stal­warts Hashigo Zake and Malt­house were joined by Hop Gar­den, the Brühaus, Tap Haus, Lit­tle Beer Quar­ter and the Fork & Brew­er, jus­ti­fy­ing claims of Craft Beer Cap­i­tal sta­tus. Per­haps more impor­tant­ly, as it dawns on peo­ple that beer is actu­al­ly allowed to taste of some­thing, drinkers will no longer put up with com­mer­cialised swill and will instead demand a bet­ter range in all bars and cafés. Oh, and just in case you are a hip­ster: HZ, LBQ and Hop Gar­den def­i­nite­ly beat the more cor­po­rate vibe of the oth­ers.

Old favourites: We may have had occa­sion to mourn some Welling­ton insti­tu­tions this year (Ernesto, Cof­fee Stop, Off­beat Orig­i­nals), but in this finan­cial sit­u­a­tion we can be grate­ful that some old favourites are still around to pro­vide essen­tial lev­els of caf­feine, booze and good times. Hooch keeps serv­ing up rum-fuelled late-night debauch­ery; Pol­lux pro­vides a more sedate van­tage point to enjoy a crisp Mar­ti­ni while smug­ly watch­ing the post-work com­muters trudge past; and Duke Carvel­l’s may have tin­kered with its menu a few times, but it’s still my favourite hang­over haunt as well as a place to enjoy a few drinks while cer­tain peo­ple (who will not be named) make inap­pro­pri­ate com­ments about the delight­ful staff.