Wellington Beaches

We've been pretty busy for the last couple of weeks getting everything set up so we haven't had a lot of time to explore the area. Fortunately, Wellington is a very reasonably sized city - still big enough for you to feel that it IS a city, but small enough to get anywhere pretty easily. Chris and I joke that wherever we need to go, google will always tell us it takes 16 minutes.

While we haven't managed to go too far afield, we have managed to check out some awesome beaches. Considering its the middle of winter here, its still pretty pleasant to walk on the beach as long as you have a thin jacket and a wind break. I don't know how busy it will get in the summer, but with the exception of one or two other dog walkers, and in Lyall bay the crazy surfers, often we won't see anyone at all.

As well as just amazing wild beauty, the beaches are also full of awesome shells, polished stones, drift wood and sea weeds. It's definitely not the groomed sand of South Beach, but its all the more impressive to me because of its savageness. You can really imagine that things are pretty much unchanged between your footsteps and the footsteps of the first person to discover the beach. All of the photos below are from beaches within 15 - 45 minutes of downtown Wellington.

Owhiro Bay - 15 minutes from downtown

Pauatahanui - 30 minutes from downtown

Queen Elizabeth Park, Paekakariki - 45 minutes from downtown

Paua Shells and Driftwood