Men and women wearing their security cards are still bustling along Lambton Quay but at the cafe in the Capital on Quay shopping centre, things are quiet.
Wellington is not poorly served by eateries towards the government bureaucracy end of town but some of the servings are poor.
Sandwiches that look fresh and inviting inside a plastic container or behind a glass-fronted counter are often dry and unappetising in real life.
It could almost be that one factory is mass producing the same uniform sandwiches and providing them to the many sandwich bars clustered along the Quay.
The same could be said about the workers who poured out yesterday into a lunchtime gale.
Black and grey suits were in abundance and the worried looks on some faces indicated some turbulence was expected, especially if National becomes the government and introduces its cap on the bureaucracy.
Turbulence is everywhere, it seems.
The flight to Wellington started off badly when passengers were informed the toilets on the plane were not working and to "keep that in mind" before boarding.
I am sure it played on the minds of several people after a cup of coffee and a container of water, especially as we were thrown around during a very fast and bumpy landing into Wellington.
At my favoured lunch cafe in the shopping centre, where the food is fresh and cheap, for Wellington, business has seen a bit of a downturn.
People are still buying lunch but are going for cheaper options and cakes are not selling as well.
A couple at the next table, he in his mid-40s, she in her late 30s, both worked for the Ministry of Social Development.
Although "confident" their jobs were safe because of the pledge by National not to make any public servant redundant, they voiced the concerns they and their workmates and friends had.
Most interest would be on Reserve Bank governor Alan Bollard today as they hoped for a strong cut in the official cash rate of at least 1%.
The couple realised it would take a while for that to move through to bank lending rates.
Therefore, they were receptive to the suggestion from National Party leader John Key that interbank lending be guaranteed by the Government as a way of reducing retail lending rates.
For this couple, who have two children at school and one at Victoria University, the election was about the economy.
The main parties believe Dr Bollard will look through September's 5.1% inflation and cut aggressively, in line with other global central banks.
Mr Key said he thought the Reserve Bank governor would be "reasonably aggressive" and consider inflation had peaked ahead of a fall later in the year.
Neither of the main parties intend making any more big-spending policy announcements.
Both have strategies locked on the economy, and who is best at taking New Zealand through what are now accepted as tough times ahead.
For the Wellington mortgage belt, the commitment by the major parties on the economy has come as a welcome relief.
Waiting to catch a bus from Courtney Pl to Parliament, the attention of a lunchtime crowd was drawn by the efforts of the police to defuse what seemed to be a volatile situation.
Two trucks were parked outside a restaurant-bar as burly men tried to load crates and boxes of drink to the backdrop of angry yelling from someone who could have been the owner.
The man was trying to get a keg off the back of the truck as one of the others was trying to stop him.
A woman was smoking while in deep discussion with a policeman.
It could have been anywhere and it could have been anything but the impression was that a bill had not been paid and repossession was the result.
Times are a bit tougher in Wellington.
Prime Minister Helen Clark and National Party leader John Key were both out campaigning yesterday.
Miss Clark called into Taupo, where sitting MP Mark Burton is under pressure to retain his seat after boundary changes favoured National candidate Louise Upston.
Mr Key fronted Taranaki farmers and wins the day for warning them they would be the losers if nothing was done about global warming.
