FIND THESE STEPS- At the ‘Parliament end of town’ – Lambton Quay and Bowen Street or across from the Backbencher pub on Molesworth. Near the Wellington train station.
The steps to the New Zealand Parliament are open for visitors. No guards send you away even though these steps lead straight up to the sitting House. If visiting Parliament you do enter from the left of the steps, through security, but even so, these are the steps where the Prime Minister greets visiting officials, where the Queen has descended, and where, often, protesters can be found.
The New Zealand Parliament moved to Wellington in 1865 but a fire in 1907 destroyed the original building and this structure was completed in 1918. The Library was spared from destruction by the fire by the hard efforts of firefighters.
The modern Beehive, beside the Parliament building, was built in 1979 and is loved by many (some?).
Parliament Library, Parliament Buildings, and the Beehive.
White camellias, once worn in support of women’s suffrage during that long and successful struggle, planted by women members of Parliament 1993 and were the gift of the National Council of Women in celebration of 100 years of women’s votes in New Zealand.
The Cenotaph
The Cenotaph was unveiled for Anzac Day 1931, to honour the war dead from World War I and, later, World War II. It is located at Lambton Quay and Bowen Street, just before you come up to Parliament.
The corner was rebuilt in 2014 – 2015 to remove a few trees, change the traffic configuration, and add a grand staircase up to Parliament grounds.
The view from the top of the steps leading to Lambton Quay and the Cenotaph.
View from across Bowen Street.
‘Walk the Line’, a feature added in the revation, is 231 carved jade discs to mark the path of the Wai Piro Stream running under the Cenotaph with a speaker providing sounds of a running stream.
Non-protesting pigeons on a wet day but with a view toward the steps to Parliament grounds.
And around the back of Parliament at the corner of Museum Street and Bowen Street are these few steps.
Wellington Steps 