A Picnic Over the Capital

Image Supplied by Flat Eart Tours, Wellington

Wellington is, without doubt, my favourite New Zealand city and on a clear day, there's no better place to get an overview than from the top of Mount Victoria. I was up there yesterday taking photos of my 'mini-Hong Kong,' as I like to call it. If I had used my brains I would have joined one of the terrific capital city excursions run by Flat Earth Tours. They not only take you to all the best places in the city - relevant to your own personal interests - they also feed you when you get to the top of Mount Victoria, which seems entirely sensible to me! www.flatearth.co.nz

Capital Arts

Images supplied by Flat Earth

I’ve said it once and I’m happy to say it again - Wellington is my favourite New Zealand city. For one thing the city has the most progressive public art policy in the country and because of its compact layout, the city is easy to discover on foot. Flat Earth has cottoned on to the capital’s potential as a vibrant arts and cultural centre and they offer the best range of small arts tours in the country. So don’t leave it all to the foreign tourists – join Mark Rogers and his team for the Capital Arts Tour (my personal favourite), which will introduce you to artists’ studios, leading contemporary art galleries, architectural icons like the Old St Paul’s Cathedral and to some of the many fabulous public sculptures including ‘Fruits of the Forest’ by Paul Dibble; ‘The Albatross’ by Tanya Ashken; “The Water Whirler” by Len Lye; “Ferns” by Neil Dawson; and ‘The Wellington Writers’ Walk,’ which celebrates the work of people like Katherine Mansfield, James K Baxter, Denis Glover, Maurice Gee and Bill Manhire. http://www.flatearth.co.nz/

Meet the People - 10

Photo supplied.
Another in the Series Meet the People - Ordinary and Extraordinary New Zealanders doing Interesting Things - Mark Rogers is passionate about his hometown, Wellington. His enthusiasm doesn’t surprise me; it’s my favourite New Zealand city too. Having travelled to many interesting countries, Mark always returned home believing that Wellington had a natural environment that matched – and even surpassed - anything he had seen on his international travels. So, determined to bring our capital city out of the ‘unknown’ and put it firmly on the tourism trail, Mark side-stepped his career in project management and, after almost a year of research, training and product development, set up Flat Earth Tours. After six years, Flat Earth is now one of Wellington’s premium tour companies offering close to a dozen unique experiences. Think arts, Maori treasures, architecture, industrial sculptures, leading galleries, wine trails, The Weta Cave, Lord of the Rings locations and much more. Mark’s tours are among the best small tours in the country. www.flatearth.co.nz