Size Matters

Just 10 minutes from Wellington's downtown, ZEALANDIA: The Karori Sanctuary Experience is the size of 23 Rugby fields.

Wellington Regional Stadium holds the most important pitch in the capital city for Rugby World Cup 2011 New Zealand, but other spots around town have their own teams playing different games.

Not far from the Stadium is the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa, which spreads its treasures over exhibition space that is three times the size of the Rugby field at the centre of the Tournament. Te Papa’s team steer 3600 visitors a day through the multiple floors of art, history and interactive experiences that the waterfront museum holds.

Marketing Manager Bridget MacDonald says Rugby fans will have to spend longer than 90 minutes in the cultural centre to get their fill of the attractions on offer including the local Maori marae, the scientific story of a colossal squid brought up from the Southern Ocean and preserved in the museum, and the Awesome Forces exhibition which unveils Wellington’s rocky love affair with earthquakes. The local passion for Rugby is put into context in Golden Days, a multimedia mash up of modern Kiwi history.

Similarly sized to a Rugby ball, if you excuse the long beak and legs, is the little spotted Kiwi, the national bird and namesake for every proud New Zealander.

Wellington’s predator-proof nature sanctuary ZEALANDIA: The Karori Sanctuary Experience is home to more than 100 of these inquisitive and intriguing birds, just one of a huge range of native species thriving in the massive enclosure only minutes from the capital city’s downtown.

Described as an “inland island”, the lush bush valley that holds ZEALANDIA could fit 23 Rugby fields, and surrounded by nine kilometres of predator-proof fencing the sanctuary is the world’s only such “island”.

Native legends about the great Maori warrior Maui fishing up the North Island from the seabed describe Wellington Harbour as the “mouth” of the island, where Maui’s hook was swallowed.

Opening into the Cook Strait between New Zealand’s two main islands, it is one of the greatest natural harbours in the world. With 76 kilometres of accessible coastline, the 8900ha of enclosed water could hold 12,000 rugby fields, but the teams that make it their playing ground are usually hauling ropes and sail rather than oblong balls.

Wellington hosts the Velux 5 Oceans race in 2011 and holds regular regattas amid an active local watersports community. From the familiar sight of windsurfers zigzagging across Evans Bay to the methodic rhythm of rowing skiffs passing Oriental Bay’s water fountain on a still morning, the harbour is a key facet of Wellington life and creates the shape that makes the city so unique.

The waterfront promenade from Wellington Regional Stadium to the band rotunda at Oriental Bay covers 2.5 kilometres, or the length of 25 rugby files.
The walkway comprises a key route through the Rugby World Cup Village and passes some 17 waterside restaurants and bars including a micro-brewery, restaurants in historic harbourside buildings and one of Wellington’s premium eateries Martin Bosley’s Yacht Club Restaurant.

Head chef Martin Bosley is a keen sailor and loves creating a culinary experience with a hint of salty sea air. The vivid energy the harbour brings to the waterfront experience delights chef and diners alike and will be at the core of Wellington’s Rugby World Cup Village, as Mr Bosley describes it.

“A unique harbour, a unique city and a unique place to be for the Rugby World Cup.”