One of the waterfront’s busiest areas is Frank Kitts Park.

Opened in 1976, it’s named after Wellington’s longest serving Mayor (1956-74) and sits on reclaimed land and what was once a wharf.

The park was significantly extended in the late 1980s, as one of the first parts of the waterfront redevelopment and a few years ago its children’s playground was upgraded.

It has spaces for all sorts of recreational uses – dragon boaters fill its shores bordering the Lagoon for practices and races, children swing and slide in the popular playground, young couples picnic and canoodle and CBD workers come across to eat their lunch and enjoy the wide vistas of the harbour and hills.

It’s a poplar venue for concerts and other events and there’s always something to do or watch – you can bounce two storeys in the air on Go Vertical’s Bungy, take one of Wet & Wild’s paddle boats for a spin or just watch the inline skaters, scooters, runners, walkers or strollers as they promenade along the water’s edge.

Frank Kitts Park is also the site of some of the city’s most interesting public art.

The Albatross Sculpture by Tanya Ashken creates an interesting focal point next to the Lagoon and is a great place to laze in the sun with a gelato from Kaffe Eis.  On the park’s upper level – ‘Fruits of the Garden’ by Paul Dibble – one of New Zealand’s foremost sculptors – holds dramatic pride of place against the harbour backdrop.

There’s a memorial to the tragic Wahine disaster when the Inter-Island ferry foundered at Wellington Harbour’s entrance during a savage storm in 1968. Fifty one lives were lost.

Commemorative plaques marking other significant Wellington events such as the arrival of 731 Polish children refugees during World War II and the arrival and departure of the US Marines who came to New Zealand during WWII. 

So come on down and join in the fun!

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