Nothing had prepared us for the crazy wind when we landed in Wellington! Before we stepped outside the airport, we were greeted by incredible giant installations from Peter Jackson’s Wētā Workshop.

It wasn’t far from the airport to our hotel, the Rydges Plaza. We took a green taxi, the drive taking us along the harbour front, so we were immediately able to admire the dramatic coastline and several kinetic and light sculptures on the shore. The wind was so extreme that we didn’t even venture outside our hotel for dinner on our first night. Luckily there was a great steak restaurant in our hotel (Portlander) from which we could see people struggling to move along the pavement in a straight line!

The next morning was slightly calmer, so we took a walk along the waterfront promenade and truly began to appreciate the understated capital of New Zealand.

The many restored warehouses had all sorts of things happening inside, from rock climbing to microbreweries. We enjoyed some pop up arts and crafts stalls and spotting some urban knitting projects!

The girls had fun at Frank Kitts Park with its helter-skelter. We were amused to have lunch at one of many Mojo cafes in the city.

The whole afternoon was spent at the Museum of New Zealand, Te Papa Tongarewa (translates as ‘container of treasures’) – a vast museum spread across a five-storey building. The first floor focused on the land, with details about animals, volcanoes and an earthquake re-enactment room.

Next was a rather harrowing exhibition ‘Gallipoli: The scale of our war’, developed with Wētā Workshop, with larger-than-life replicas of eight New Zealanders who were involved in the conflict, including soldiers and nurses.

The top floor of the museum had a focus on contemporary art, with wonderful works by Tiffany Singh, Reuben Paterson and Len Lye.

As we left, we realised the rain had started – so we raced to Cuba Street for a Japanese meal. As we walked back to our hotel we noticed that everywhere was very busy – it was the last Friday evening before Christmas so lots of people were out celebrating. We make do with a hot chocolate and bath before bed.

I started 21 December with a strenuous morning run up to the stunning Mount Victoria lookout (Tom had made it out the day before).

Later that morning we had a lovely meet up with friends Alexi, Kayvan, Papili and Cyrus, a family we know from Dubai at the Rose café at the Botanic Gardens, feeding ducks and having a dance.

We had walked up the hill so decided to take the famous cable car down to Lambton Quay, first having a look around the cable car museum where the girls had fun trying on clothes (it opened in 1902), having a look at two of the original cars and understanding the way it works.

After a delicious lunch with a view at Kelburn and an explore of a slightly bizarre perfume exhibit, we made our way down, the girls enjoying the lights.

After an afternoon shopping for Christmas presents, we enjoyed some warmer weather with a sundowner at a microbrewery and a final burger dinner at Foxglove on the quay. We realised the date was 21 December, the longest day of the year in the Southern Hemisphere!