Scenic South Wairarapa Full Day Tour from Wellington

What a wonderful tour! Tom, a lovely guy, gave us a comprehensive guide to Wellington, with an informative, fun and entertaining day, taking lots of great pics, and a delicious lunch on the way….

Literally Tom is the best tour guide ever..Thank you Tom. Tom was the perfect host and guide. Tom is really knowledgable about the areas and he answered all our questions. Lunch was superb. The tour is well planned and thought out and not rushed. Toms attention to detail is fab including hand gel and water at the beginning of the day and a beautiful gift of reclaimed timber coasters to take home. Tom took amazing photo with his camera and sent them to us.. Tom thank you we had the most perfect day and would recommend you 101% to anyone going to Wellington This is an outline of our day with cruise ship pick up We headed up to Wrights Hill in Karori, arguably the best view over Wellington and the harbour. We drove through the Botanical Gardens, past the entrance to the Bolton Cemetery (Wellington’s first cemetery) then a steep drive down Bolton Street where the motorway went through the cemetery in the late 1960’s requiring the relocation of over 3,000 graves. We then stopped at the Parliament Grounds where we viewed the iconic ‘Beehive’, Houses of Parliament and the Parliamentary Library building. We drove past Te Papa, the QT Hotel (which used to physically be where Te Papa is) and along Oriental Bay stopping at the Wellington ‘Blown Away’ sign at the entrance to the Miramar Peninsula. We drove around the Miramar Peninsula and stopped for lunch was taken at Scorch-O-Rama cafe at Scorching Bay overlooking the Wellington harbour. After lunch we continued our drive around the Eastern Bays stopping at the lovely seaside suburb of Seatoun. Here we could see Steeple Rock, 200 metres offshore which is where the Inter Island ferry TEV Wahine capsized resulting in the loss of 51 people on 10 April 1968. In fact, 2 further people died later as a result of injuries sustained. We continued our coastal drive dropping on to the south coast at Breaker Bay where we could see the infamous Barrett Reef which was the reef the Wahine struck. We also viewed the Wahine Memorial (propeller) at Wahine Park, Breaker Bay. We then headed back though the Airport and up to ‘Wellywood’ – the eastern suburb of Miramar where a number of movie post production studios (Stone Street Studio is Sir Peter Jacksons studio) as well as the famous special effects studio – the Weta Cave and Workshop where we viewed a number of special effects including Tom’s ‘Precious’ Gollum all created by the clever people in the Weta Workshop. Back through the Airport short cut, under the runway and along the south coast passing the ‘Leaning Tower of Wellington (ATC tower), Lyall Bay, Houghton Bay, Island Bay and Owhiro Bay. A visit to Wellington on a nice day is not complete without a visit to the Brooklyn Wind Turbine for fabulous views all over the city and harbour. We then headed back into the city for a trip on Wellington’s famous Wellington Cable Car where after much stress for some of my guests I do in fact meet my guests at the top! The Cable Car has been in operation for over 120 years. And lastly, we visited headed up to the Mt Victoria lookout for another majestic view over the city and harbour, oh and let me not forget – the Basin Reserve where the mighty NZ Cricket team were about to pull off quite a remarkable test win against England

Very friendly guide, fascinating views, funny seals, delicious meals and a lot opportunities for photos! Excellent value! Definitely worth it! Also want to say thank you to Tom and the Poppies staff!