The Museum of Wellington City and Sea occupies a 1892 Victorian bond store on the waterfront, just along from Te Papa. The museum is free and its scale is right — focussed enough to be genuinely engaging, small enough to see in an hour. The Wahine exhibition covers the 1968 ferry disaster in which 51 people died when the inter-island ferry capsized in Cook Strait in a cyclone — still the worst maritime disaster in New Zealand waters, and told here with real documentary material and survivor testimony.
The Maori legend section, using holographic storytelling, brings Wellington's pre-European history alive in an accessible way. The building itself is worth noting: the carved warehouse facade and interior ironwork are good examples of Victorian commercial architecture. The waterfront setting, with views across the harbour, makes this a natural extension of a Te Papa visit.