Explore Newtown

Welcome to one of the most diverse and character packed suburbs in Wellington.If you enjoy people-watching, Newtown is for you. Practically every sector of society manages to coexist peacefully here – families and students, young professionals and immigrants, hipsters and elderly.

It’s also home to Wellington Zoo, so you might even be able to boast a lion, tiger or monkey among your neighbours.

Newtonians have a strong sense of community, as demonstrated by the massive success of the annual street fair held as part of the Newtown Festival. It’s a much-loved event, and attracts around 80,000 each year.

Schools

Newtown School is a vibrant, culturally diverse school dedicated to providing our students with a wonderful experience throughout their primary school years. Newtown School has an indoor, heated swimming pool, library, and computer room and school hall. When possible we make use of resources in the community and have frequent trips to Newtown Library, community gardens and parks. School trips are taken to the wider community like Te Papa, City Gallery and Wellington Zoo to support current learning topics.

St Anne’s is a Year 1 to 8 Integrated school that has been providing quality Catholic Education to the children of Newtown for over a hundred years. The school was originally founded by the Sisters of Mercy, and amalgamated with Marist Newtown in 1984 on our existing site. The Marist and Mercy values and ethos continue to inform and enrich all we do at St Anne’s. We celebrate and value our heritage, our faith and our diversity. We work with our community to encourage, empower and enrich the lives of our students to achieve academic and social excellence. Each child is delivered a holistic education that respects their uniqueness and recognises their talents. Our staff are committed professionals who work tirelessly to deliver to the needs of the individuals in their care. We offer a variety of curriculum subjects, sporting and cultural activities.

Recreation

Newtown Park is used mostly for soccer, and cricket ground the Basin Reserve also lies within Newtown boundaries. The suburb used to have Athletic Park for rugby, but that has been demolished and replaced with a retirement village. It was famously the site of a major clash between protesters and police during the 1981 Springbok Tour.

MacAlister Park is situated between Adelaide Road and Finnimore Street, only a 1-minute walk from the public parking area. It is home to many of Wellington’s Football and Cricket matches and has all expected amenities that come with it: showers, changing rooms and professionally kept pitches. When there isn’t a game on to watch, it is a great space to take the dogs for a runaround or throw a frisbee with the kids.

Woof Woof Ruff (Dog Park) is a fully-fenced park and perfect place to take your pup out or let off the leash to expend some of the built-up energy that city dogs have. Double gates for safe entry and exit, and a tap and bowl for drinks. Lots of space to run around, and some shrubs down the end for snuffling in.It is a lovely environment for dogs to socialise with others. Most dogs are off leash, and everyone is very friendly. The perfect park for you and your canine companion!

Wellington Zoo is New Zealand’s first Zoo, and Wellington’s oldest conservation organisation, caring for animals since 1906. With a great range of animals in our care, there is something to wow everybody at Wellington Zoo. Bring the kids for a day trip or spend some time with your partner and grab a drink and bite to eat while listening to the lions roar. The Zoo is a not for profit charitable trust, and has been that way since 2003. The Trust runs the Zoo on behalf of Wellington City Council.

Come and enjoy a game of indoor ten-pin bowling with family and friends for a decent price at Bowlarama! We have plenty of lanes for everybody to have a go, catering for first timers through to seasned professionals. Book a party or event for birthdays and corporate functions, or have a bite to eat and a drink in bewtween games. Register a team for the leagues if you’re feeling a bit morew competitive and want to show the Wellington Ten Pin players what you are made of!.