Return to the valley of the dolls

I was in Wellington, my first time back since I left in April, and I was furiously catching up on things. I got the bus out to the Hutt and visited the Dowse Art Museum. It was choice, but as I left the gallery, I spied something much more intriguing across the square. Over at […]

A farewell

So, OMG, this is my final post for the Wellingtonista. I’m leaving this town for a more northerly location. I’m sad to leave Wellington and the W’ista, but it’s been a fun four years. I’ve met lots of cool people, had lots of amazing experiences and shared them with y’all. As my farewell, I present […]

International hipster attraction

Air New Zealand have recently launched a campaign to persuade reluctant Australians to choose New Zealand as a holiday destination. It turns out there are actually some people who aren’t aroused by the thought of scenery, sheep and extreme sports. As part of this campaign, there’s a Rhys Darby-narrated series of videos, each smashing a […]

Urban Harvest

Urban Harvest is a Wellington-based company that delivers locally grown produce, meat and other culinary delights. For the festive season, they’ve branched out into Christmas hampers, and have opened a pop-up shop in their Mt Victoria headquarters (29 Hania St) for those who like to get up close with their yuletide nomz. The Wellingtonista were […]

Wendy’s comes to town

There have been rumours for a while that a Wendy’s was coming to Wellington, and finally I received a report from the Kapiti: a Wendy’s had just opened in Paraparaumu. Wendy’s Old Fashioned Hamburgers – not to be confused with the Australian ice cream parlour chain Wendy’s Supa Sundaes – is an American burger chain […]

The other important vote

The general election is only a few weeks away, but right now there’s another important vote happening. Yes, the vote on what sign will sit atop the Miramar Cutting. There are three options: The controversial and largely disliked “Wellywood” sign “Wellington” written in a similar Hollywood sign style, but with the final letters being blow […]

Candidates: Tane Woodley for the Greens in Rimutaka

We invited all candidates in Wellington electorates to contact us with their answers to fifteen crowdsourced questions. Answers are restricted to 30 words each, and we publish them exactly as we receive them. Who are you and what do you want? My name is Tane, and I was born and bred in the Hutt. I […]

Candidates: Alex Speirs for ACT in Hutt South

We invited all candidates in Wellington electorates to contact us with their answers to fifteen crowdsourced questions. Answers are restricted to 30 words each, and we publish them exactly as we receive them. NB: Alex went over the 30-word limit a few times. We’re pretty strict about the limit, so those answers have been truncated […]

Our Hearts Will Go On

I was alerted to a music video of a long-haired fellow performing an emotional rendition of “Titanic” theme song “My Heart Will Go On”. I started watching it, and it was all going well when suddenly at the 19-second mark I realised something very important: the video was filmed in Wellington. This makes it even […]

Old Groove, new Peel

When Real Groovy closed its doors in May, many music-loving Wellingtonians were rather sad. But a curious thing has happened – we’ve got a Real Groovy back, sort of. Real Groovy Christchurch suffered damage to both its building and stock in the September 2010 earthquake, but owner Paul Huggins was determined to continue, reopening a month […]