Ziggurat owner Kate Bryant Photo: Supplied
The capital city has been getting a tough time in the headlines lately, but locals say it's the same creative, beautiful place they've loved for a long time.
It may be known as one of the world's windiest cities, but locals are quick to say "you can't beat Wellington on a good day".
It's our capital city, politics central and, with its array of museums, funky shops and art deco buildings, it's long been dubbed the creative capital of Aotearoa. But it's also a city plagued by disaster, scandal and leaky pipes. So what is it about our capital that keeps Wellingtonians loyal?
Kate Bryant owns landmark vintage clothing emporium Ziggurat. She gets straight to the point.
"I think Wellington is the creative hub of New Zealand. People will say it isn't, but it is. It's always had an artistic base to it."
It was a no-brainer for Bryant to take over the Cuba Street landmark after years living in London.
"My life had just taken a bit of a turn from what I thought it was going to do. It was like one door shut and another one opened.
"I've been in the shop for 21 years, which is quite a long time when you say it out loud.
Bryant can't see herself, or Ziggurat, living anywhere else.
"People often say I should open one in Auckland or somewhere else in the country but I think having a special thing that's always lived where it's lived - and people come knowing it's there and look forward to being there - that's part of what's special about having something that's been going so long."
Despite the biting southerly cold, Bryant doesn't flinch.
"I love that Wellington's surrounded by the hills. It's sort of got a heart. It sprawls up and down over the hills, but I think the fact that it is surrounded by hills means that it has a centre in a way that lots of other cities don't.
"I think there's an openness to people. There's not so much judginess. I think people are more accepting of things that are different, things that are colourful."
Courtney Johnston, the CEO of Te Papa. Photo: Jo Moore Photographer
Another longtime Wellingtonian is Courtney Johnston, the CEO of Te Papa.
"I have occasionally asked myself 'why didn't I leave town and do the OE?'.
"I guess there are two answers to that. One is love. Like I keep on falling in love with people which is one of the things, so men have kept me in Wellington."
The second is her career, which Johnston built in the Wellington region.
"Part of that is the richness that we have here with the combination of national institutions, Wellington institutions and then having as well Porirua, the Hutt, and then the Wairarapa as well, all within kind of the same cultural catchment.
"So yeah - 25 years in Wellington and it is genuinely love that keeps me here," she said.
Johnston's waiting for "that heartbeat of the city" to re-open: the Civic Square Precinct, the Central Library, City Gallery and Wellington Town Hall.
"I'm looking forward to feeling that again as a place of gathering and the magic of Wellington which is just the running-into-of-each-other."
Meg Williams, CEO of World of Wearable Arts. Photo: Nick George Creative
Right now, nearly 400 cast and crew are working on Wellington's waterfront preparing the annual World of Wearable Art event. Meg Williams is at the helm, as the CEO of WOW.
Her dad emigrated to New Zealand from the UK when she was six. With four brothers and sisters here, Meg has come back and forth from the UK, where she got her start in festivals.
"My husband, Ollie, and I were keen to have a bit of an adventure and so we came initially to kind of connect in with family here, and came to Wellington, fell in love with it, and have never looked back really."
Her entry into Wellington was the New Zealand International Festival of the Arts.
"There's particularly nothing like Wellington when you know a festival's on or there's an event in town," she said.
Ollie is an avid surfer so the ocean is "the perfect fit for us really".
While Williams is clear creativity is everywhere, she hones in on Wellington's signature.
"Perhaps in Wellington there's something in the wind. It's a place where people are kind of blown towards, and there is that kind of ecosystem of creativity here.
"I think it's something about being on the edge."
So what about Wellington on a bad day? Williams recalled Ngāti Toa rangatira Helmut Modlik.
"He talked about this idea of, you know, 'lift where you stand' and so that really resonated with me and I was kind of taking that to heart, and so what I do on a bad day is I focus on what can I change? What can we influence positively here in Wellington?
"That's what I love about Wellington too. There's a lot of people that have got that mindset which is 'well, what can we do? What can we affect in our arena of influence to contribute to making this a great place to be?'"
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