Living in Wellington

As a capital city, Wellington is one of those rare and special finds.

As the government administrative centre and the capital of New Zealand, it’s got a fabulous range of culture and facilities, including an excellent public transport system which is arguably the best in New Zealand.

But the population is less than half a million and the city’s geographical size is small, so commuting times and driving distances are pleasantly short. People know each other, or know of each other, so it feels like a proper community – something which is uncommon in many other capitals. It’s said that the “six degrees of separation” theory doesn’t hold true here, as it’s only two degrees of separation in Wellington.

Most importantly for Jake and I, Wellington has got both the mountains and the sea. We’ve always been beach people – not sunbathing-type beach people, but running & walking & surfing & beach-cafe-ing and just generally being by the beach.

Since we moved here, we’ve also discovered that we are mountain people as well. It would be very unusual for a week to pass by without both of us having gone for a run (Jake) or a walk (me) at least once in the mountains. And often more than once. (The pictures on this post were taken on my Sunday morning walk a couple of days ago). 

The kids of course love both places too. The beach offers great opportunities for collecting shells and driftwood, while the mountains offer great opportunities for collecting leaves and bugs. They’re not so keen on walking up the mountain though, so given the choice they’ll always opt for the beach.

Someone I know once said Wellington is “beautiful and intelligent” – it sure is.

But one thing which Wellington is failing to impress us with is its housing market.

According to a recent study by Massey University, houses in Wellington became 14% more affordable in the past year. Meanwhile in Auckland prices are hitting record highs. So you’d think we’d be counting ourselves lucky that we’re in the right place at the right time.

But since the wedding we have viewed 19 potential homes (and before Christmas we’d already viewed about a dozen), and we are yet to put in an offer on anything.

Our budget has been pushed up, our wish list has had things crossed off it, and we have found ourselves compromising and compromising until we’re now happily considering houses with 1940’s decor, cracked chimneys, no heating appliances, ancient kitchens and no space for the rellies to come and stay. Yet we still haven’t found anything.

Come on Wellington – please show us something soon!!!