Review: Absolute Monster by Alice Sneddon

Absolute Monster, guest reviewed by Lena Beets. It’s quite hard to write a review for a comedy show that has a medium to large bombshell admission in the middle that changes the context of all the jokes told thus far, but I’ll try my best because Alice Snedden’s Absolute Monster was great. I’ve been a […]

Review: Actual Fact

Reviewed by our fantastic guest reviewer, Shannon Gillies (@dashrightin) on Twitter! The audience arrived warm and willing to be entertained – and they were. Actual Fact explored story telling. Not in a way that is generally celebrated in our society – such as I’m an adventurer, sportsperson, a politician – listen to or read of […]

The city chocolate fix

Hurray, another guest post from Heather at Foodie Gems of Wellie Where to go in the city for a quality chocolate fix between usual excuses – chocolate festivals, Valentines, Easter, Xmas, national chocolate day, your birthday, your best friend’s birthday, White Day in Japan, Chocolate Dipped Fruit and Fondue day in the US (hmmm, any […]

Wonderful Wellington Lux

Today we have a guest post from Suzanne over at Observations. Yay guest posts! Last night I went to the fascinating Wellington Lux lighting event on the Wellington Waterfront. (Runs from 6pm to 11pm, 1 to 9 September) This  “teaser” event consists of four lighting installations, using new and interactive technology. The idea is to […]

Wellington winter nostalgia (no, really)

Today’s guest post comes courtesy of Daisy Coles – you read more of her stuff over at daisyandzelda.wordpress.com I’m sitting in my togs on shady grass in a hidden corner of Europe. I’m watching the dragonflies flit round a lazy little branch of the Danube, with a wine spritzer in one hand and an incomprehensible newspaper […]

Get creative for Queen’s birthday weekend

Typically a Wellingtonian makes haste for the nearest airport or road come Queen’s birthday weekend, but the reverse is starting to happen for those of a creative bent as Handmade happens for the second year in a row. Handmade is home to all sorts of making related things – from cooking to crafting they are […]

One year on…

This posting brought to you by Sandy Mamoli (deeply honoured inaugural guest blogger).

Have you got something to say about Wellington? Would you like to guest on the Wellingtonista? Drop us a line and we’ll add you to the door list.


I discovered the Wellingtonista on day two after my arrival. It took them almost year to discover me …

In fact, it took them exactly a year. I celebrated my one year New Zealand anniversary last Friday with the contradictory emotions of someone who simultaneously feels like a true long-term Wellingtonian and a rookie who has just stepped off the boat.

I am still struggling with a wee bit of culture shock – complaining about Wellington’s provinciality and second-world infrastructure while marveling at the vibe, friendliness and genuine feeling of community one can only find in Wellington (I think).

Apart from being with a Kiwi partner who has been too long out of the country to remember anything useful and having read halfway through a travel guide I didn’t know much about New Zealand a year ago. And my former life in Vienna, Copenhagen and Amsterdam proved to be way too limited an experience of the world to shelter me from the surprises I was in for.

A Snark at the Park

A guest post from Kenno…

Waitangi Park, yeah, sigh, it leaves me flat. Be warned, that will become the most overused description of the next few years. It’s an urban space surrounding the marvellous Te Papa and thereby it’s not simply a Wellington space but a space that should mightily reflect the national character.

Well, if the idea was to reflect bland conservative conformism and lock-step simple mindedness with all the individuality and self expression of a schoolgirl uniform, then it will succeed. I, for one, thought we might want to reflect other, perhaps more appealing aspects of the national character. Don’t get me wrong, this place would really wow them in Nelson or Timaru, but, this city is a little beyond that, a bit more mature, slightly more cosmopolitan and farther away from pig-dogs and paddocks. Right? God, I was really trying to understate the case.