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Great Harbour Way/ Te Aranui o Pōneke - Wellington New Zealand Te Whanganui-a-Tara Aotearoa
Wellington’s harbour – Te Whanganui-a-Tara, The Great Harbour of Tara – is one of the world’s most beautiful. Its clear waters are ringed by layers of grey-green hills. Its surroundings range from the soaring office towers of the city to the wild, shipwreck shores of Fitzroy Bay. The harbour teems with wildlife, from the seal colonies of Red Rocks, to the blue penguins which seek sanctuary at many places along the coastline, and the dolphins and orcas which regularly visit its waters.
The Great Harbour Way is rideable and mostly walkable now and, when totally completed, will provide a continuous, safe, signposted 67-kilometre route for walkers and cyclists around the entire perimeter of Te Whanganui-a-Tara, from Fitzroy Bay in the east to Sinclair Head in the west.
What it offers will be unique – the opportunity to safely walk or cycle the entire coastline of a major city harbour, continually touching the water’s edge. You will pass wild stretches of coast, rocky headlands and sandy beaches, as well as parks, marinas, museums, cafes, theatres, charming seaside suburbs, and the capital’s vibrant business and shopping centre.
Click on the image above to see a flyover video, showing casing the project progress.
Latest news
Latest news
April 2025 - Update from Waka Kotahi on the Tupua Horo Nuku / Easter Bay Shared Paths project
Things have been full steam ahead as the project transitions into the colder season, with the focus spread across various bays.
In Sorrento Bay, approximately two-thirds of the seawall and pavement works—around 230 metres—have been completed. Last week, our team successfully placed 48 metres of seawall and poured over 80m³ of concrete backfill. The next step in this section is preparing for the bird screening fence, which provides protection to the sensitive oystercatcher habitat.
Over at Māhina Bay, four active work fronts have helped advance our progress with deep foundation works across the bay. You can now see an access track established at the southern end, providing a work platform situated off the road to minimise disruption to traffic. This setup additionally extends our working window by elevating us above most of the tidal zone.
Meanwhile, at Whiorau | Lowry Bay, progress continues with nearly 800 metres of seawall now installed. In addition to the work in the cofferdam, we've also installed the balustrade and poured the pavement base along most of the southern section.
April 2025 - Work gets under way at Greta Point
Work is starting at the northern end of Greta Point on the next section of Tahitai – the coastal walking and bike paths taking shape around Evans Bay. For the next few months, this means there will often be two spots with stop/go traffic management on Evans Bay Parade (Monday to Friday, 9am-4pm) as work is also under way to replace seawalls at Hataitai beach. At Greta Point, wider new bike and walking paths will replace the existing shared path on the seaward side, continuing the roll-out and style of improvements already in place closer to the city and adjacent to Cobham Drive. There will also be two new pedestrian crossings going in to make getting across this busy road easier and safer.
The street changes in Greta Point village will take about six months and be carried out in two sections to help minimise disruption. Each section will take about three months. Find out more about how the changes will be rolled out.
For other Great Harbour Way related news items and activities, check out this page.
Want to walk or cycle the route?
Want to walk or cycle the route?
Choose between half day, one day and multi day walking and cycling excursions. Check out the Route Guides and Maps pages.
Check out the Study on the Great Harbour Way
Check out the Study on the Great Harbour Way
Back in 2009, the Trust commissioned Boffa Miskell Consultants to write up a report on the opportunities and issues related to the Great Harbour Way. Read the report here.
View our gallery of great harbour way photos
View our gallery of great harbour way photos
Check out the Photos page to have a look at images and descriptions of the different sections of the great harbour way.
Read about our Trust and the Maori history of our harbour.
Read about our Trust and the Maori history of our harbour.
Read the Background on who the good people are that make up and support the Great Harbour Way Trust, and find out about the Maori discovery and settlement of Te Whanganui-a-Tara Aotearoa (Wellington) and theTe Whanganui-a-Tara (it's great harbour).
Learn what our vision is for the great harbour way
Learn what our vision is for the great harbour way
A safe, and enjoyable harbourside perimeter shared pathway for all. That is our vision in a nutshell. But there is more to our aspirations for the great harbour way., which you can read about on our Vision page.
See our submission and presentations on the great harbour way
See our submission and presentations on the great harbour way
Read the various submissions, presentation etc that we publish to advocate for improvements that are needed to realise the vision and outcomes for the Great Harbour Way
Contact us
Contact us
We welcome and invite comments, questions and suggestions. Please use the Contact Form to get in touch with us.
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