Us Wellington mamas aren't too scary, I promise!
I'm on the Southern side of Welly, bit more city-ish but still very family friendly - Kilbirnie, Island Bay, Lyall Bay, Miramar, Hataitai.
Shopping is fine and dandy... probably nothing on Sydney, but accepatable. There is a semi-sizeable mall in Lower Hutt, or the usual shops and some funky alternatives in the city. And then cool baby shops scattered about - BabyStar in Newtown, Infantesimal in Island Bay, Mini Me in Petone etc.
Lots of playgroups and stuff around, plenty of family-friendly sections of town. At my end, Kilbirnie has quite a bit on offer with pool/library/playgroup in close proximity. Out in Johnsonville there is also lots of kidlet oriented stuff.
There is an OhBaby coffee group who get together occasionally. Some of them might refute the fact that I claim to be a part of the group due to non-attendance
Hope the move is an easy one! Good luck!