The city's most recent claim to fame, the event that shook it out of its admitted small town-ness and into the international league, was when local boy and affirmed Wellingtonian, Peter Jackson, decided to shoot his opus, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, right here.

Wellington, New Zealand's capital city, offers windy days, warm inhabitants and much excitement over local director, Peter Jackson's latest film, King Kong.

I am on the top of the world. Or, shall I say, at the top of the bottom. Exact location: Mount Victoria Lookout, 242 metres up, Wellington, at the very southern edge of New Zealand's North Island, Southern Hemisphere. The sweep of the city at my feet has me entranced and I open wide my arms as though to hug the entire vista. New Zealand's capital city, population 164,000, is superbly cradled between green, rolling hills and a magnificent port. It is the country's political hub boasting the houses of parliament and black-suited, briefcase wielding politicos. It accommodates in pride of place, the National Museum of Te Papa (worth a visit for its interactive displays) which proves to be an experience in itself. Art galleries and boutiques are compacted into the pedestrian-friendly Downtown where everything is within walking distance. And through it all blows Wellington's notorious wind, blustering through arcades, art galleries, coffee roasters, the metal palm sculptures that line the streets and the stunning waterfront, dotted with restaurants with a view.

In fact, Wellingtonians love to discuss the weather, "because there is so much of it," laughs Mark Rogers, who has escorted me up Mount Victoria. Big city Aucklanders tend to make jokes about Wellington's laid-back breeziness - literally. Example: The biggest thrill the notoriously breezy city had hitherto experienced was the time it went four days without a puff of wind. And there we come to the city's most recent claim to fame. Local boy and affirmed Wellingtonian, Peter Jackson, decided to shoot his opus, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, right here in Wellington.

And thereupon hung many a tale. When Wellingtonians were not debating the weather as they were wont to do, they were discussing the theatrics of cast and crew. Celebrity spotting became a community pastime and the hottest story doing the rounds involved Liv Tyler being unceremoniously thrown out of a local nightspot. Domestic and international tourists and Rings buffs, pay homage to film sites, though all traces of sets have disappeared due to environmental concerns. A lone Gollum rears his head above the structures of the city's airport, a reminder that, in complete stealth late one night, a mysterious truck entered the precincts and left behind this memento - a surprise indeed for the star-struck to revel in. But then, Jackson was marked by his almost eccentric bent towards secrecy, a fact well known with natives who excused their celebrity compatriot with a 'Oh, never mind, that is Peter Jackson.' Also shrouded in secrecy is King Kong, currently being shot here.

WELLINGTONIAN BRAND OF FASHION

I am shattered out of my jet lag by Sally Ann, in her black shirt, black tie, checked pants and fab grey boots, fashioned by a designer friend. (In New Zealand, I am to discover, everyone creates something, even if it is only the painting on their own bedroom wall. In fact, I am certain the country would hold a record for having walls that refuse to be bare. "We are so far from things, we have to be innovative," stated prominent city artist, Anna Stichbury, when I dropped into her home-on-stilts, later in the day. Stichbury was married in a red silk gown with a gold border, fabricated out of a sari, I discover in a portrait.) And now, the main matter at hand - a visit to some of Wellington's (and the zesty Sally Ann's) favourite boutiques.

Downtown Wellington, I discover, is divided into four quarters: there's concentrated shopping in the Lambton Quarter, lifestyle shopping in the Willis Quarter, funky stuff in the Cuba Quarter and shopping and entertainment in the Courtney Quarter. At the corner of Willis Street, Lambton Quay and Customhouse Quay, stands the Old Bank Shopping Arcade, formerly the Bank of New Zealand's head office, built on a reclaimed beach over the remains of an old sailing vessel, Plimmer's Arc, left high and dry after the earthquake of 1855. High plaster ceilings, ornate balustrades, original mosaic tile floors, today stand sentinel to the city's brightest young designers. A favourite with my escort is Andrea Moore, designer and new mother, who, 'in a soul searching moment, dedicated her collection to working mothers who fit so much into their lives'.

Within walking distance are boutiques like Zambesi, a 25-year-old label, which celebrates a store interestingly hung with peeling plaster, an unfinished ceiling and a large chandelier. Decadent and fanciful, like the clothes. In fact, a Zambesi jacket created rather a flurry back home, when photographed on Liv Tyler, of Rings fame, when she wore it for a cocktail event in New York. After, I meet up with Zana Feuchs, designer, with her own label. Her latest collection sports distorted and stylised fruits - a kiwi fruit on a shirt is particularly striking. Natural fabrics are printed over with cherries, melons, metallic fruit. "I am just concerned about what people are eating…I hope they keep away from terrifying things," says this intense couturier who espouses the genetically engineered path and dreams of a cleaner, greener country. (Can't get much cleaner or greener than this, I am thinking.) Here's a label with a conscience.

For those who have done the rounds of London, New York and Paris stores and picked up what everyone else has picked up, here is something refreshing, charming and oh-so-New Zealand. Other labels to look out for are Rixon Groove, Juno, Voon, Karen Walker, Starfish and Robyn Mathieson.

PACIFIC RIM

We catch a quick bite at one of the city's popular coffee roasters, Nikau, celebrated for its melt-in-the- mouth chocolate macaroons and a courtyard highly coveted for its patch of sunlight. In fact, states Sally Ann, patrons follow the sun around the courtyard, on a Sunday and she is speaking from first-hand experience. This is a favourite spot with the city mayor and a good place to relax and de-stress (Wellington, anyway, is like the land that time forgot - except for some skyscrapers - where you want to just chill out), with Civic Square, the main city centre as it were, right outside. The décor is minimal and the food, excellent.

A visit to some packed restaurants in the city's bustling (where did so many people emerge from, I wonder) Courtney Place, which exposes an exuberant café society and nightlife, convinces me that Pacific rim cuisine is less Pacific and more rim, as it flutters over the cuisines of the world and lands on a little concoction all its own. Tapas, small plated meals, are popular and a discovery I make is a juicy, rather rare venison, grilled to perfection. I am to discover the succulence of green-lipped mussels, of a size unimaginable and unavailable anywhere else. I enjoy too, roasted kumara (sweet potato), a regional delicacy. Wellington restaurants bustle with gaiety and the city, muted by day, resounds to much laughter at night.

A LITTLE BIT OF INDIA

Kilbirnie is where the Indians are centred. They form part and parcel of life here and the isolated islander, open to indigenous culture and with an innate curiosity, revels in Indian customs and festivals. Three years ago, I am told, Diwali was celebrated by all locals, with great fanfare in the centre of the city. This is one metropolis that loves to party and community support is high for various cultures. Indian restaurants dot the landscape and I am oft invited for an Indian meal (no, thanks) because everyone, it seems, loves curry and tandoori. Mary Marshall, native Wellingtonian, is an expert at Vini yoga and even tutors a young pupil. Her ambition is to visit Krishnamacharya's school in Chennai: "I cannot wait to go to India and experience yoga first-hand." Slim and stylish, she downs innumerable cups of green tea even as I consume, unselfconsciously, gallons of creamy cappuccino and go in search of the highly recommended Rush Munro ice cream.

AND WELLYWOOD TOO

I am sitting over a cup of ubiquitous coffee at The Chocolate Fish, a roadside eatery with the ambience of a sea port café (each chair, I see is different, painted over with various motifs, in the New Zealand style of laying a creative hand on everything) and watching the clouds chased by the wind, the reflections racing across the azure water. A chocolate fish, sinfully sweet, dangles from my mouth. This is where, I discover, Liv Tyler, Orlando Bloom and others, hung out on their filming stint. Somewhere nearby, Jackson's seaside home had already been photographed. ("Wellington has been his playground," I was told.) This is spectacular coastline, the weather is crisp and my guide informs me that he saw the first Rings film, he thinks, twenty times.

While every bit of movie memorabilia has been removed (once, statues of the characters dotted street corners) mostly because Jackson felt he was through with this and wanted to move on, (at the airport, I witness huge film murals being carefully whitewashed from sight) you cannot meet anyone that does not mention the film or its director. This, then, is the stuff that urban legends are made of. Everyone has a story and wants to tell it. This is what awakened Wellington from a staid, political town into a bustling, excited metropolis which witnessed 400 yards of red carpet being laid out on the streets, from the buildings of parliament right down to Lambton Quay to the Embassy theatre, where the world premiere of the final movie in the trilogy, The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, was held. The parade included all the stars, the entire town closed down for the day, buildings were hung with giant-sized postage stamps, introduced for the occasion and Fell Beasts hung around the spectators.

Driving through suburban Miramar, home of Jackson's billion dollar film production houses - Weta Films and Three Foot Six, I discover an easy-going sleepiness that makes it impossible to imagine that Jackson's newest oeuvre, King Kong, is already in the making. Later, I insist on being photographed with 'the King Kong ship', a set under construction in nearby Evans Bay, deriving vicarious pleasure from the rude, 'Danger' signs.

FAR AND AWAY

Wellington is the world's most southern capital. Eleven per cent of Wellingtonians walk to work, daily, taking in stupendous views. The Beehive, well-known parliament building, legend has it, was first designed as a joke on the back of a cigarette packet.The National Archives houses the 1893 Women's Suffrage Petition which gave women voting rights, New Zealand being the first country in the world to give women the vote. November is peak whale spotting time in Wellington Harbour. The Royal New Zealand Ballet, the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, National Opera and the National dance and drama schools are based here. Air New Zealand's hub in South East Asia is Singapore with connecting flights operated by its airline partners from Mumbai and New Delhi. Domestic flights from Auckland are available.