A visit to New Zealand should always include a stay in the nation’s capital city, Wellington. Situated on the south coast of the North Island, Wellington is at the center of New Zealand’s political and commercial life. But we all know the old adage about ‘all work and no play’, which is why Wellington also places a strong emphasis on the arts, culture, sport and fun. One of the best places to have a fun time while in Wellington is the waterfront, created as an attractive and user-friendly area packed with activities to interest a wide range of people.
Wellington’s waterfront playgrounds include two parks: Frank Kitts Park and Waitangi Park. Frank Kitts Park, located right on the waterfront, is a popular Wellington park. It is located on land reclaimed from the sea and was inaugurated in 1976, it was expanded about 10 years later and the children’s playground was improved a few years ago. Children love to swing and slide on the popular playground. City workers enjoy the area as a place to sit and have lunch while watching the harbor scenes. It’s a great venue for concerts and other events and is the site of some interesting public art, as well as monuments and commemorative plaques. This popular Wellington park also has access to a vertical bungy and paddle boats, while snapdragons gather on the shoreline for their practices and races.
Waitangi Park is the newest, largest and most exciting urban park in the city. This Wellington park has even won international and national landscape and design awards. It has a large expanse of grass surrounded by a stream, with a very busy activity area outside of that. Families can bring a picnic, adults can play boules, teens can enjoy the skate park, and younger kids can have fun on the slide and splash pad at the Children’s Play Garden.
Linking all the play spaces along the promenade is a promenade that acts as its own play space. This makes it possible to walk or jog along the boardwalk right next to the water’s edge. Other common modes of transportation on the boardwalk include inline skating and bicycling.
On warm days, the water becomes a wonderful beachfront play space. There are two swimming pontoons available: one is under the bridge in the lagoon and the other is in Oriental Bay. The lagoon is a popular play space for rowers, rowboats and dragon boats to launch their boats for practice and you will often see visitors dipping their toes in the water or paddling in the summer. It is also a great place to enjoy the afternoon sun. Oriental Bay is one of Wellington’s favorite spots and the new beach created to the east of the band roundabout has increased its popularity. The beach extension also included a pier, lighting and car parks, making Oriental Bay another of Wellington’s fabulous playgrounds.
