irnbru14

Melbourne = Wellington = Edinburgh = San Fracisco, you know, where there is a nice vibe, bit of culture, nice locals and its chilled and nice places to aimlessly wander round and sit and have coffee and watch the world go by

happynz

My wife reckons Wellington is closer in feel to Seattle than San Francisco. Never mind though. Seattle, San Francisco and Wellington are all cool places.

irnbru14

Never been to Seattle so San Fran is my only American-like reference point!

happynz

And a fine one it is.

Ted Logan

Wellington - more friendly, better coffee

irnbru14

Less pretentious, crazier dress sense

Ted Logan

beautiful harbour, less traffic

lardyl

Well, most people here seem to suggest that their backyard is the "best" solution to the OP's desire for beauty and culture from NZ........
Personally I have never been to Wellington so can't comment other than to say that the surrounding areas are not gonna warrant a massive detour from either Auckland as base or Chch as base.

I'd suggest that NZ "culture" is gonna be better expressed as Maori culture than "cafe life" in one of the big cities - why come to NZ to experience a city "like" Melbourne, Sydney, Edinburgh or Seattle? When you've come from the UK via some real cultural cities (in China and Japan) to Sydney?

Better to visit the places that you can see something more "uniquely" NZ - if I had to reccomend I'd fly to Auckland, visit the War Memorial Museum and see the cultural stuff, maybe visit one of the Volcanic Islands or have a day or so in Rotorua (for some cultural stuff and volcanic stuff) and then pile down to South Island (Queenstown maybe) for 3 or 4 days to check out the sights around there - of course if it is the right time of the year......ie still warm....

Or go with Southerner's schedule......again provided its the still the right season!!

crap coffee

I am not.

I dress up well here (with my Euro designer clothing) unlike Kiwis- because I am not Kiwi/don't want to be a Kiwi

it purely depends on personal choice (yay, I agree Kiwi has got ABSOLUTELY NO dress sense) however that's not very important.

they don't even Know Burberry! Stupid, eh?

Ted Logan

Burberry is chav ------------- thank god that don't exist here

crap coffee

Burberry Novacheck Cashmere Scarf gorgeous. I love it

Nerine

The Burberry Scarf - an essential piece of kit for any wardrobe. I quite fancy one of their trench coat s for when we go to Europe later on in the year. Not sure whether to try to buy one here at Surfers or pick it up in Singapore.

irnbru14

Personally having been round most of NZ now, I'd prefer to spend time in Wellington than either Auckland or Christchurch, when I was backpacking around I happily spent 3 weeks here where I struggled to keep myself interested in Auckland or Christchuch for much less time periods. Think this is the best place to base yourself for a week, plenty to see and do around here and day trips to the likes of Wairarapa and a few days across in the top of the South Island are well worth it

I think a good mix of culture is required, not just shoving Maori stuff down people throats, they need to see the whole wonderful mix that is NZ culture

South Island will however let you see more of the beautiful place, get into Queenstown and explore down there if you can

irnbru14

Burberry is soooooooooo chav/ned/schemie/bogan etc etc

Nerine

Ah well, we can't all be blessed with exceptional good taste . I'm after a Mulberry hand bag too.