Written by Michael Colbert /
Wellington is the Windy City. In this case the nickname is literal. Located at the southern tip of New Zealand’s North Island, the nation’s capital is frequently cited as the windiest city in the world. I, however, didn’t require much convincing; I’d arrived in Wellington on a blustery summer day in January and after a brief walk around downtown, I realized I would need to change into jeans.
I’d come to New Zealand to start the new year, hauling down the North Island due south for a wedding in Christchurch. I filled my itinerary with hikes, hot springs, and museums, and while I deeply wanted to dip into the Pacific, I didn’t have quite enough time for a proper beach day. Thankfully, I’ve learned a thing or two about the urban dip from Pond, and consulting the Urban Dip Guide, I was in luck. In Wellington’s central waterfront, a dive platform towers high, inviting the brave to ascend the metal rungs and take the plunge. On a walk my first day in the city, I watched a group battle the wind and launch from the two platforms into the harbor below. As soon as they surfaced, they were climbing the ladder for another round. Though there’s a beach a short way down the road, the diving platform provides people with a place to enjoy the water and summer sun in the heart of the city. While the air was brisk, I knew I needed to follow suit.
For the Americans I know who love New Zealand, it’s a place of adventure: hikes, white-water rafting, and elaborate outings into fjords. In Auckland, someone asked me if I wanted to be like Beyoncé and bungee off the Sky Tower. Bungee jumping was a hard no for me, and while I love getting outside, I’m keener on bite-size adventure suited to city exploring, and I was grateful to learn that Wellington had much to offer in the spirit of urban exploration. In the morning, I worked up a sweat by hiking up Mount Victoria, and shortly after I was ready to take the leap myself.
From the vantage of the walkway, the water was inviting: calm and turquoise. I was pleased to learn from Land, Air, Water Aotearoa, an organization established to help “communities find the balance between using natural resources and maintaining their quality and availability,” that conditions in the harbor were both monitored and suitable for a swim. This is what I love about the urban dip—how it integrates swimming into life and the landscape of the city.
I slipped down to my swimsuit and climbed the wooden steps of the dive platform. As passing tourists realized what was about to happen, they paused to watch—just as I’d spectated the day before, I too would have a crowd. I walked to the edge of the lower platform and appraised the fall. Standing at eight meters, the platform made me feel as though I’d climbed atop the Sky Tower—I’m not particularly fond of heights. I didn’t give myself too long to fret, though, and stepped off the edge, falling through the summer air and into the hold of the bay.
Bubbles shot up around me. The Windy City may not have provided me with a hot summer day for my dip, but the water was a tonic I hadn’t known I needed: cool, refreshing saltwater to zap me awake for the rest of the day. I climbed the ladder back onto the walkway, feeling as though the spectating tourists held signs rating my performance.
Though in the northern hemisphere it’ll be several months before we enjoy urban dips in summer conditions, leaping off the dive platform started the new year wonderfully, reminding me that sometimes all you need to find the right headspace is to get in the water.
