The Wellington Blown Away sign is a landmark of Wellington, New Zealand.
The Wellington Blown Away sign is a landmark of Wellington, New Zealand.
Wellywood is an informal name for the city of Wellington, New Zealand. The name—a conflation of Wellington and Hollywood—was coined in the 1990s and is a reference to the film production business established in the city by The Lord of the Rings film director Sir Peter Jackson, and Wellington-based special effects companies Weta Workshop and Weta Digital. [1] The businesses operate a number of film-related facilities in the Wellington suburb of Miramar.
In March 2010, the Wellington Airport company announced plans to erect a Hollywood-style sign saying WELLYWOOD on a hillside next to the Miramar cutting. [2] The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, which owns the original Hollywood sign, threatened legal action over concerns about breach of copyright. [3] After the airport considered a range of alternatives, it was announced in May 2011 that the Wellywood sign would be going ahead. [4] However this was met with enormous criticism, [5] and on 1 June 2011 the airport announced that a panel would be convened to consider alternative sign options. [6] [7] The panel ran a binding public poll on The Dominion Post website with the Wellington Blown Away design being chosen. [8] The sign spells WELLINGTON, with the last letters being "blown" upwards. It was designed by Matt Sellars and Ray McKay from Auckland-based company Saatchi & Saatchi. [9] The sign was erected on 27 July 2012, and cost $80,000. [10] [9]
In 2014 the sign was changed twice. The W in the sign was replaced with a red V to spell VELLINGTON, promoting a local vampire comedy movie called What We Do in the Shadows . [11] Later in 2014 the sign was changed to WOWINGTON to promote the World of Wearable Art fashion show. [12] In May 2022 somebody painted the sign in a patchwork of pastel colours and it remained that way for months. [13] In June 2023 the sign was repainted white and the O in the sign was temporarily replaced with a 3.6m diameter football to promote the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup. [11]
Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand, and is the administrative centre of the Wellington Region. It is the world's southernmost capital of a sovereign state. Wellington features a temperate maritime climate, and is the world's windiest city by average wind speed.
Wētā Workshop is a special effects and prop company based in Miramar, Wellington, in New Zealand, that produces effects for television and film. The company is named after the New Zealand wētā, one of the world's largest insects.
Matiu / Somes Island is the largest of three islands in the northern half of Wellington Harbour, New Zealand. The island is 24.9 hectares in area, and lies 3 kilometres south of the suburb of Petone and the mouth of the Hutt River.
Miramar is a suburb of Wellington, New Zealand, south-east of the city centre. It is on the Miramar Peninsula, directly east of the isthmus of Rongotai, the site of Wellington International Airport.
Te Motu Kairangi / Miramar Peninsula is a large peninsula on the southeastern side of the city of Wellington, New Zealand. It is located at the entrance to Wellington Harbour, in Wellington's eastern suburbs. According to Māori legend, it was formed when the taniwha Whaitaitai beached as he tried to escape the confines of the harbour. It contains the suburb of Miramar.
Lambton Quay is the heart of the central business district of Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand.
Wellington International Airport is an international airport located in the suburb of Rongotai in Wellington. It lies 3 NM or 5.5 km south-east from the city centre. It is a hub for Air New Zealand and Sounds Air. Wellington International Airport Limited, a joint venture between Infratil and the Wellington City Council, operates the airport. Wellington is the third busiest airport in New Zealand after Auckland and Christchurch, handling a total of 3,455,858 passengers in the year ending June 2022, and the third busiest in terms of aircraft movements. The airport, in addition to linking many New Zealand destinations with national and regional carriers, also has links to major cities in eastern Australia. It is the home of some smaller general aviation businesses, including the Wellington Aero Club, which operates from the general aviation area on the western side of the runway.
Te Whaea in Newtown, Wellington, New Zealand, is the New Zealand National Dance and Drama Centre, the home to the New Zealand School of Dance and Toi Whakaari: New Zealand Drama School.
Stuff is a New Zealand news media website owned by newspaper conglomerate Stuff Ltd. It is the most popular news website in New Zealand, with a monthly unique audience of more than 2 million.
Eleftherios "Terry" Serepisos is a Wellington-based property developer and former owner of A-League association football club Wellington Phoenix. In 2010, he was the host in the New Zealand incarnation of the hit TV series The Apprentice. After a string of failed commercial property ventures, by 2011 he had accrued tax debts of NZD $41.4 million, and owed NZD $8 million to numerous banks, prior to his successful application for bankruptcy.
Kirkcaldie & Stains was a department store in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1863 by John Kirkcaldie and Robert Stains with a capital of £700. The first store was opened on Lambton Quay. In 1868 Kirkcaldie & Stains moved to their final location at the corner of Lambton Quay and Brandon Street, expanding several times. There was a branch on Cuba Street, Wellington from 1870 –1876 and one in Napier from 1897 until 1917. French luxury skincare brand Sisley was exclusive to the store in New Zealand.
Shelly Bay is a bay on the Miramar Peninsula of Wellington, New Zealand.
The Malaghan Institute of Medical Research is an independent biomedical research institute based in Wellington, New Zealand. The Malaghan Institute specialises in the immune system, and how it can be harnessed to improve human health. Its key areas of research and discovery are cancer, asthma and allergy, infectious disease, gut health and brain health. In 2019, the Institute began New Zealand's first clinical trial of CAR T-cell therapy, trialling a third-generation CAR T-cell therapy in partnership with Wellington Zhaotai Therapies.
Evans Bay is a large bay at the southern end of Wellington Harbour, New Zealand. Located between the Miramar Peninsula and Hataitai, it was the site of New Zealand's first patent slip and served as Wellington's international flying-boat terminal from 1938 until 1956. It is named after George Samuel Evans, an early Wellington settler.
Naenae College, is a state-run coeducational secondary school located in north-central Lower Hutt, New Zealand. It is situated on a 12-hectare (30-acre) site in the suburb of Avalon. The school was founded in 1953 to serve the Naenae state housing development, although the school is located in the suburb of Avalon.
Let's Get Wellington Moving was a proposal to improve Wellington's mass transit, public transport, infrastructure in walking and cycling, and state highways. It was a run by the Wellington City Council, Greater Wellington Regional Council, and NZTA Waka Kotahi. First announced in May 2019, it was cancelled in December 2023.
Moa Point is a small suburb in Wellington, New Zealand, situated on the south coast between Lyall Bay to the west and Tarakena Bay to the east. As of 2015 there were 21 households in the suburb.
The Winter Show Building in John Street, Wellington was built in 1928 by the Wellington Show Association as a permanent home for the Winter Show, an annual trade fair promoting agriculture, trade and industrial innovations. In 1998 it became the home of Te Whaea, a national performing arts centre.