Wellington - Lambton Quay

Lambton Quay, which runs south from near the railroad station, and its continuation Willis Street form Wellington's busy main artery and commercial street. The name Quay is a reminder that the shoreline originally ran here: all the land to the east of this street was thrust up from the seabed in the 1885 earthquake.

There are no spectacular sights along this street and few old buildings apart from the District Courts (1879) and the Public Trust Building (1908).

Otherwise glass-and-steel buildings predominate in this area - with the Bank of New Zealand, at the south end of Lambton Quay, towering above them all - behind which are luxury shops, department stores and shopping malls.