Combo Tour - The best of Wellington and the South Wairarapa (2 days)

Day 1: Enjoy a 7 hour private guided tour of Wellington where you will be taken on a scenic drive around Oriental Bay to head up to one of Wellingtons premier viewing points – Mt Victoria. 

We then head around Evans Bay to view the Wellywood sign then onto Wellington’s slice of Hollywood – the suburb of Miramar, the home of several Post Production Studios and the famous Weta Cave and Workshop. We visit the Weta Cave where we embark on the Weta Workshop tour to get a unique behind-the-scenes look at how Weta Workshop helps to craft physical effects and create movie-making magic for some of the world’s biggest films.

After your Weta Workshop Tour we come back to the Weta Cave where you can wander through the Cave to purchase a momento from your tour, have your photo taken with Gollum or the Trolls or check out the 20 minute documentary video which outlines the history of Weta.

We continue our drive around the Miramar Peninsula stopping at the magnificent Massey Memorial, the resting place of Prime Minister William Massey and his wife Christina. 

Our next stop is at the Eastern suburb of Seatoun where we visit a monument to the 51 people who tragically lost their lives on 10 April 1968 from the sinking of the Inter Island Ferry Wahine. In fact a further 2 people were to die after the tragedy as a result of injuries sustained on that fateful day.

We then head onto the south coast where we visit the Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the first President of the Republic of Turkey. The memorial looks out over Cook Strait and the site was chosen for its remarkable likeness to the landscape of the Gallipoli Peninsula in Turkey. The memorial is particularly poignant for Australian, New Zealand and Turkish visitors who commemorate the ANZAC Gallipoli campaign during World War 1.

We now stop for a well deserved lunch at a local South Coast iconic cafe for a wine, a Wellington craft beer or another beverage of your choice with your lunch. After lunch we head back towards the city where we visit the Brooklyn Wind Turbine where we take in yet another majestic view of the city and harbour.

Our next stop is a brief visit to Pukeahu National War Memorial Park and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. 

We then head onto Wellington’s iconic Cable Car where your guide will take you to the entry point and then meet you up the top at Kelburn which is the entrance to Wellington’s Botanical Gardens. We drive down to the magnificent Lady Norwood Rose Gardens (when in season).

We then have a brief walk around the Parliament grounds where your guide will point out the iconic ‘Beehive’, Houses of Parliament and the Parliamentary Library building. Just around the corner we come to Old St Pauls Anglican Cathedral. The Cathedral is one of the best examples of Gothic Revival architecture in the world. The Cathedral is particularly poignant for American visitors. A large contingent of the American Marine Corp were based in and around Wellington in 1942 and many Marines would attend Sunday services. The American Marine Corp flag and the American national flag of that time with 48 stars hang proudly inside the Cathedral.

After our visit to Old St Pauls Cathedral we then head north to Waikanae on the Kapiti Coast for your overnight stay with Tom and Jill from Kaewa Tours arriving around 6pm.

In the evening we visit Nga Manu Nature Reserve to experience Nga Manu's "Kiwi Night Encounter". This is a unique opportunity where you will see Kiwi up close as they explore, feed and interact with one another. We start in the Nga Manu Visitor Centre where your Nga Manu Guide will give a presentation about Kiwi and Nga Manu's involvement
with the national captive programme. As night falls your Nga Manu Guide will escort you to seating in their covered observation area in the outdoor Kiwi enclosure where you will have a fabulous 30-40 minutes immersing yourself into
the nocturnal world of Kiwis which few every get the chance to observe.

Dinner is at guests own cost. We will be happy to discuss options and provide recommendations for dinner in Waikanae or Paraparaumu. 

Day 2: After breakfast we head to Martinborough around 9am via the Paekakariki Hill for a majestic view over the Kapiti Coast, Kapiti Island, the top of the South Island and on a clear day we may see Mt Taranaki/Egmont and Mt Ruapehu.

Our next stop is at at the Kaitoke Regional Park located in the foot hills of the Tararua Ranges to walk through native rain forest and admire the majestic Kahikatea trees. We then visit the magical spot used as the set for Rivendell in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

It’s a short drive of around 10-15 minutes to the Remutaka summit, 555 metres above sea level where we view the Remutaka Crossing monument commemorating 60,000 New Zealand troops who made the crossing from the military camp in Featherston to the Port of Wellington between 1915 and 1918.

From the summit it’s a 10 minute drive down to the South Wairarapa town of Featherston, home of C’est Cheese where we can sample magnificent local cheeses (Remutaka Pass cheeses are made on site) along with international cheeses from Owner/Cheese Maker Paul Broughton.

We head further north to the quaint town of Greytown where we visit Schoc Chocolates for a tasting of a wide array of artisan chocolates and of course purchase if you are tempted.

After our visit to Schoc Chocolates we head south east to the Pinot Noir Capital of the North Island – Martinborough where we have wine tastings at 2 wineries including lunch.

Once we have had our lunch and wine tastings we drive out to Cape Palliser, the southern most point of the North Island where we can work off our lunch by a ‘gut busting’ 253 steps up to the Cape Palliser Lighthouse for magnificent views over the South Pacific Ocean and the South Island.

After catching our breath we have a very short drive to the Cape Palliser Seal colony. Care is required – it is very important we keep at least 20 metres away from the Seals. Please review the Department of Conservation information sheet of ‘dos and donts’ when visiting the Seal colony. https://www.doc.govt.nz/documents/conservation/native-animals/marine-mammals/seal-deal.pdf

Once the Seals have had enough ‘smiling’ for photos we work our way back to Lake Ferry stopping at the quaint seaside village of Ngawi. Fun fact: Ngawi has more tractors per head of population than anywhere else in the world. 

We have dinner at either the iconic Lake Ferry Hotel which arguably has the best Fish and Chips in the country or at one of Martinborough’s fine restaurants.

We return to Wellington arriving back to your selected drop off location around 8pm.

Inclusions Day 1: 

Bottled New Zealand spring water, refreshments, lunch and entry fees.

Inclusions Day 2: 

Breakfast, bottled New Zealand spring water, refreshments, tasting fees, lunch, dinner and entry fees.

Key points to note: 

• Itinerary subject to change. 
• Weather conditions may result in change to the itinerary.  In the event of adverse weather conditions, a visit to the Museum of New Zealand-Te Papa Tongarewa or a tour of Parliament Buildings can be arranged in lieu of extreme adverse weather conditions.
• Part of this tour is not available to those under 18 years of age (wine tasting).
  
• Combo tours are not suitable for cruise ship passengers due to the tour being multi days.
• An average level of fitness is required to view the Massey Memorial, Ataturk Memorial and Wrights Hill.
• If you have any special dietary requirements please complete and submit the 'Contact Us' form.
• Parts of the itinerary not suitable for wheel chairs and walkers. Our home is not suitable for wheel chairs or walkers.
• The Kiwi Night Encounter experience at Nga Manu Nature Reserve is only available on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings.