Wednesday is my non-working day, a day when I usually have an appointment or two. Today was no exception, with a morning visit to the optician for a general check up. I took the cable car to town again, quite a regular occurrence these days with the bus schedule still being somewhat erratic. It was a bit of a grey day, but not cold – spring is here!
After getting the all clear (ie no change in two years) I walked along to Victoria Street, stopping to look at the Mibar Building. The building, from the early 1960s was built as the head office of the New Zealand Racing Conference, who used the building for over 20 years. Its distinctive wave shape and finishings make it quite a landmark. Opposite sits the Grand Head, a large, bronze head sculpted by Terry Stringer and unveiled in 1987. You can get a better view of it in the featured image at the top of the post. There is something oddly appealing about it.
Further up the street, is the Art Deco former home of the Wholesale Boot Company, now the restaurant WBC. There are also several clothes shops around this area, including local Wilson Trollope, who just happened to have a sale on. Yes, dear reader, I did make two purchases there, photos of which will have to be taken at some point!
By this time, thoughts turned to stopping for an early lunch, so I walked along to Cuba Street then down Dixon Street to Dixon Street Deli, where I enjoyed an avocado halloumi on toast. I also loved today’s message up by the entrance.
From there I strolled up Egmont Street and past the buildings that originally housed Young’s Chemical Company Warehouses, built at various times between 1906 and 1923. At the top of the street is the National Candles factory and shop, a great place to pick up candles at a good price.
I then headed over to Commonsense Organics, a shop I always love to spend time in, browsing the wonderful selection of foodstuffs and other products. I picked up this beautiful looking rainbow chard, ham from Woody’s Farm, a piece of gouda cheese from The Cheese Barn and a Shelley Bay Baker ciabatta loaf to have with this evening’s leek and potato soup.
Then it was home, to make soup, read and enjoy the rest of the day and evening.
Thistles and Kiwis is a Wellington, New Zealand based blog written by Barbara, who likes cats, summer, good food and pretends to garden.
You can find Thistles and Kiwis on Facebook, and also on Instagram @thistlesandkiwis. As for Twitter….am totally inactive these days. If you want to get in touch, email me on thistlesandkiwis@gmail.com
Thistles and Kiwis 
The avocado halloumi on toast looks delicious and I would have enjoyed your leek and potato soup! Thank you for highlighting these interesting buildings.
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You should work for the Wellington tourist board. Or perhaps you do! The food always looks amazing.
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I don’t actually…maybe I should!
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A thoroughly worthwhile outing.
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Happy Spring to You! Your avocado halloumi on toast sounds divine (and looks even more so). I will need to copy that!
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It is really good – the toast is spread with pesto too.
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A lovely day out!
And that bunch of chard …. pretty!
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Thank you for sharing your lovely day with us at #weekendcoffeeshare. I enjoyed learning about a few places in Wellington. The food and produce all look so good.
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I enjoyed following you around the streets of Wellington. Commonsense Organics looks like the kind of shop that I’d find hard to walk past.
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Love the photographs that you use to punctuate your post.
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Thanks!
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What a great tour Barbara! Makes me want to visit your city and soak up some of this culture.
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One day you might visit!
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Thank you, thank you! I’ll follow you anywhere in Wellington. I enjoyed the tour very much. Perhaps my favorite stop was the National Candle factory and shop. Its old brick and windows nicely evoke its product, and I love the clever mural!
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The National Candle factory is quite fun and they have a small shop where they sell of seconds and a small selection of their products. The staff are always so grumpy when you go in and distract them from their work by wanting to buy something.
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That’s hilarious and, in an odd way, makes it more fun!
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