Detailed Guides

Leg 1 – Wainuiomata Road to Fitzroy Bay (Restricted Access)

View over Fitzroy Bay

This route is a wonderful access from the Wainuiomate beach end to the start of the Great Harbour Way at Lake Kohungaptera.  The track climbs up a large hill with a rewarding panorama over the Wellington harbour at the top, and a lovely ride down to Fitzroy Bay.   It provides a nice link with the Rimutaka Cycle Trail (one of New Zealand's Great Rides).

Note that there is no public access along the coast road (Fitzroy Bay) between lake Kohungaptera, Parangarahu Lakes to Baring Head/Ōrua Pouanui without the permission of the two private landowners. If you require access, please contact the Park Ranger Jo Greenman at Jo.greenman@gw.govt.nz.

Leg 2 – Fitzroy Bay to Burdan’s Gate

Cycling along Fitzroy Bay


Welcome to Fitzroy Bay, part of East Harbour Regional Park, and the eastern end of The Great Harbour Way. The journey begins at the fence that marks the boundary on to private land, just short of Baring Head.

The Baring Head Lighthouse was one of the last lighthouses to be built in New Zealand, and the first to have an electrified light. It sparked up in 1935, and during the Second World War it was used by the armed forces as a radar and signal station. It superceded the Pencarrow lighthouses, both of which you’ll see further along the way. So many lighthouses? And so there ought to be. More than 40 shipwrecks have been recorded between Baring Head and Eastbourne.

This is a wild and exposed coastline, infamous for its frequent battering by angry surf whipped up by fierce southerly storms and the strong swells of Cook Strait. The craggy, kelpy beach is inhospitable and not recommended for swimming. This area, however, has a long history of Maori settlement. Its dunes were used for growing kumara, and the sea and lakes provided abundant fish, eels, seals and other sources of food. This area was first occupied by Ngati Ira, who fled to the Wairarapa in 1825 when they were attacked by Te Atiawa.

The first Europeans to settle along this coast were whalers and traders, although their stays were usually short-lived. By the early 1900s this area had been significantly altered by farming, logging and extensive fires. This led the local council to start a land purchase programme that has eventuated in the creation of the Regional Park.

Forty minutes from Fitzroy Bay you’ll see testament to the treachery of this coast – the rusty wreck of the steamer SS Paiaka which ran aground here in a fierce gale in 1906, while the Pencarrow lighthouse keepers could only look on in horror. Fortunately no one was killed. Buried in its sandy grave for many years, the hull was discovered and exhumed in 1987.

Just past the Paiaka is the first of two lakes, Kohangatera. The track marked to your right offers a lakeside detour, and a climb over the hill to the next lake – Kohangapiripiri, which can also be reached less strenuously by staying on the coastal path. These two lakes are formed by earthquake-raised beach ridges, and offer not only an idyll of rustic stockyards and grazing sheep: these are important and vulnerable wetlands, home to abundant birdlife – look out for banded doterills, white-fronted terns, oyster-catchers, shags and pukeko, as well as black swans, ducks and black-backed and red-billed gulls. The interpretive display at Kohangapiripiri tells you more.

Just past the lake, take the path leading right, signposted towards the lake and old Pencarrow lighthouse. A 40-minute gentle climb will reward you with magnificent views from Pencarrow Head, site of the original Pencarrow lighthouse, built in 1859. Not only was this New Zealand’s first permanent lighthouse, it was operated by the country’s first and only woman lighthouse keeper, Mary Jane Bennett. Since it was often obscured by low cloud, a second lighthouse was built at sea level in 1906 – this can be passed by staying on the coastal path from Lake Kohangapiripiri.

Enjoy the grandstand view! On a clear day, across Cook Strait, you can see Mt Tapuaenuku (2885 m) on the South Island. Below you lies the perilous harbour entrance, and Barrett Reef – scene of the sinking of the Wahine, New Zealand’s worst maritime disaster, caused by the most ferocious storm ever recorded in this country. Early morning on 10 April 1968, the inter-island ferry Wahine struck the southernmost rocks of Barrett Reef, grounding and suffering severe hull damage. It was then driven northward towards Point Dorset, dragging its anchors along the shoreline until she came alongside Steeple Rock where the anchors gripped and held. At about 1.20 p.m. the captain gave orders to abandon ship. About an hour later the ship heeled over, crashing heavily to the seabed. That day, many acts of heroism and valour were performed in the attempts to rescue the passengers. Most were washed ashore on this side of the harbour, but 51 people lost their lives. There are remnants and memorials to the Wahine further along the Great Harbour Way past Seatoun.

Follow the track back down the hill. On your left you may spy a grave surrounded by a white fence: therein lies Evelyn Woods, a lighthouse-keeper’s daughter who died in 1896. Keep heading downhill until you reach the stile. Cross it, and follow the track down until you reach the coastal path.

From here, follow the path until you reach Burdan’s Gate – it’ll take about an hour and a half on foot.

Toilets: Burdan’s Gate/Camp Bay

Public transport:

Accommodation: Hutt City Visitor Accommodation Information

Useful contacts:

East Harbour Regional Park

Leg 3 – Burdan’s Gate to Seaview

York Bay


The third leg of the Great Harbour Way begins at Burdan’s Gate in Korohiwa Bay, and finishes at Seaview Marina at the eastern end of Petone.

Maori are believed to have settled Wellington’s eastern bays in the fifteenth century, with one tribe supplanting the other over time. There is evidence of habitation throughout the bays, including here at Korohiwa, although the extent of settlement is thought to have been limited to sparsely populated fishing areas and the occasional pa. These settlements were largely displaced by the time the first Europeans arrived – whalers and traders, followed soon after by pioneer farmers.

Set off along Muritai Drive – on the footpath or on the beach. [CYCLISTS: there’s no established cycleway, so ride carefully along the road.] Leaving Korohiwa, the first point passed is Point Arthur, complete with water-pumping station. That big crag ahead is Lion’s Rock, marking the entrance to Robinson Bay. Follow the footpath that peels off to seaward  – the Promenade, which connects to Marine Parade. [CYCLISTS: you may use this path with care.]

Robinson Bay is one of the largest of the eastern bays, and its flat residential area is known as Muritai, which means ‘sea breeze’. From here,you get the best possible view of Makaro/Ward Island. Look out for Heketara Street: during the Second World War, an anti-submarine defence wall, consisting of a fence of piles, was built from this point out to the island, a total of 1.8 kilometres. Walking along the wall was forbidden, ‘but anyone with the necessary bravado could do it’. It’s long gone, so I guess you’ll never know …

Marine Drive comes to a brief halt at the Karamu Road car park. Rejoin it by crossing the sand dunes, or walk through the Shortt Recreation Ground. [CYCLISTS: cycle with care on the path beside the recreation ground, or go down Karamu Street, left into Oroua Street, and left again into Makaro Street.]

Continue along the parade. Ahead is historic Rona Bay Wharf, serving (or at least it used to) Eastbourne Village. There’s plenty to do in the village – galleries, cafes and a good pub. Alongside the wharf, Bishop Park is a good place for a picnic.

There are popular bush walks into the hills from here to Butterfly Creek, and behind Williams Park in Days Bay, and in Lowry Bay.

From the wharf, walkers can take the dune path, while cyclists should keep going along Marine Parade.

As you pass Windy Point and enter Days Bay, walkers and cyclists can use a lane on the seaward side of the narrow road most of the way to Seaview. At some points this path has poles separating it from the traffic, at others just paint.

Days Bay is the heart of Eastbourne and the destination of the cross-harbour East by West Ferry. It makes a delightful stop, with good swimming, excellent cafes, and a pier perfect for leaping off. Williams Park and pavilion across the road has ice cream, tearoom treats and cafe-style dining. The leisurely atmosphere of Days Bay harks back to the days when Eastbourne was known as ‘Wellington’s playground’ – a place for picnics and holidays. Starting in the 1850s, thousands flocked here for a weekend or the whole summer, as cross-harbour steamers and ferries plied the route with vigour. At the turn of the nineteenth century, famous Wellington writer Katherine Mansfield spent many of her childhood summers at the bay. More than 20 years later, suffering from tuberculosis in Europe, Mansfield revisited these carefree days in her classic story, ‘At the Bay’.

Leaving Days Bay, keep to the beach or the shared cycle/walking lane on the seaward side of the road. (Confident cyclists may prefer to keep to the road space to avoid conflicts with pedestrians).

Downes Point marks the entry into Sunshine Bay. Walkers can take the beach where the tide allows.

The next bay is Mahina, known until the early 1990s as Portuguese Joe’s Bay, supposedly named after Joseph Silver who shipped firewood from here to Wellington in the mid 1800s. It remained largely unsettled until well into the twentieth century.

York Bay, a similarly late developer, was first settled by two Yorkshire brothers who tried their hand at dairy farming. One of them, Frederick Crowther, was reputed to operate a whisky still, the produce of which he shipped across to Wellington: ‘striding up from the shore with a can in each arm – one containing milk, the other whisky’. Neither venture could have been particularly profitable, as the brothers soon left the bay. It wasn’t until the early 1900s that the bay was sub-divided by land agents and sold off in 72 lots.

Lowry Bay is next – named after Richard Lowry, a mate on the Tory, an early migrant ship. The Maori name for the bay was Whiorau (‘the place of many blue ducks’), and indeed this area was once a swamp. In the 1840s, though, in a not-unusual fashion, early European settlers drained the swamp, and set to with a box of matches, clearing much of the bush for pasture in a matter of a few years. The 1.5-metre uplift resulting from the 1855 earthquake further altered the landscape, and allowed the sub-dividers of the early 1900s to capitalise.

Sorrento Bay is the last bay before Point Howard (the site of the Seaview Wharf – public access, sadly, denied). The Maori name for this point was Ngaumatau (‘bite the fish hook’), and was renamed after Philip Howard, a member of parliament in the 1840s. Until the 1855 earthquake, the point was passable only at low tide, and travellers had to make a lengthy diversion over the summit. The earthquake raised a ledge, as it did around the entire harbour fringe, making travelling to, and settling the eastern bays a great deal easier.

After Point Howard you’ll see the Seaview Marina on your left. Look out for a cycle/walking path leading into the carpark, and connecting to Port Road, where this leg of the Great Harbour Way ends.

Toilets:

Public transport

Accommodation: Hutt City Visitor Accommodation Information

Useful contacts:


Leg 4 - Seaview to Petone

Hikoikoi  reserve


The fourth leg of the Great Harbour Way begins at Seaview Marina on Port Road.

From the gates of the marina, head on Port Road away from the hill with the marina on your left. Port Road soon veers right. Cycle, or continue walking on the grass with the estuary on your left.

In about 15 minutes walking, or 5 minutes cycling, where Port Road bends right, go straight ahead, on to the marked cycle/walking trail to the Hutt Estuary Bridge just ahead of you.

A detour can be made from the bridge, on cycle or foot, by following the Hutt River Trail, which flanks both east and west sides of the river. There are numerous crossings where you can double back and rejoin the Great Harbour Way – the first of which is Ava Rail Bridge. The Hutt River Trail is also part of the Rimutaka Trail, a Nga Haerenga/ New Zealand Cycle Trail which follows the Hutt River to cross the ranges on the Rimutaka Rail Trail, returning by following Lake Wairarapa to the coast then around Turakirae Head to Orongorongo Station and the Wainuiomata Road.

Cross the Hutt Estuary Bridge on the southern side to continue on the Great Harbour Way. The first signpost directs you to the short Estuary Boadwalk – a 5-minute diversion. Just past this signpost is the Hikoikoi Walkway, leading to the Hikoikoi Reserve. Turn left on to this path. Where the path forks, take the left fork for Breakwater Rest Area, another short diversion offering views back across the estuary and a peek at quaint boatsheds. Back on the track, continue until you reach the reserve car park. Information about the reserve is displayed a few steps away to the right.

The reserve, the site of Ngati Awa’s Hikoikoi Pa, is pleasant green spot at this somewhat industrialised end of Petone foreshore. Follow the path towards your left, along the estuary edge, towards the lookout and sea scouts. As it leads right, cross the entrance to the sandworks and stay on the path, or walk along the beach if you prefer.

Soon you’ll reach a public toilet, children’s playground, an ice-cream kiosk and sculpture garden. This is the start of Petone Esplanade – fresh sea breeze, screaming gulls, fish & chips and salty lips.

Petone gets its name from Pito-one pa, which occupied the western end of the beach. The local chief, Te Puni, was responsible for negotiating the settlement of European immigrants with William Wakefield, director of the New Zealand Company, and so Petone became the first European settlement in the Wellington area. Despite fire and flood, and a resolution by Wakefield to shift the fledgling settlement to Thorndon, Petone eventually thrived. In 1940 the Wellington Provincial Centennial Memorial, which you’ll soon reach, about half-way along the esplanade, was opened to commemorate the arrival of European immigrants. Today the Memorial houses the Petone Settler’s Museum. The museum is well worth a look if you want to learn more about the area – it will take you 30-60 minutes to look around and entry is free.

The Petone wharf provides a wide open perspective from here, and Matiu-Somes Island seems so very close. The wharf was built in 1907, but an inadequate connection to the railway limited its use. Today it is mainly used for fishing, and if you’re lucky you’ll see shoals of little fish flipping about in the waves below. Some East by West Ferry services stop at the wharf. The Wharf is also the official start of the Rimutaka Cycle Trail.   Unfortunately the Petone Wharf is closed due to earthquake risks.

Adjacent to Petone wharf is Victoria Street – a good place to cut through to Jackson Street, Petone’s main street, home to scores of shops and cafes.

About 10 minutes further on from Petone Wharf is the Korokoro Gateway car park, the end of this leg of the Great Harbour Way.

Toilets:

Public transport:

Accommodation: Hutt City Visitor Accommodation Information

Useful contacts:


Leg 5 - Petone to Whitmore Street

The somewhat challenge cycle and walk path along SH2


From the Petone foreshore, you get a good perspective of Matiu/Somes Island, lying three kilometres away in the middle of the harbour. According to Maori oral history, the legendary Maori explorer Kupe named the island Matiu and its tiny neighbour Makoro after his nieces when he sailed into the harbour 1000 years ago. The islands were renamed Somes and Ward by the New Zealand Company in 1839, and in 1997 Somes was renamed Matiu/Somes. From the 1870s, the island was a quarantine station for animals and humans. Until the 1920s travellers suspected of carrying diseases such as smallpox were quarantined there, and war internees detained there during both World Wars. In the early 1980s, the Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society began habitat restoration and established a nursery. When rats were eradicated in 1987, the island’s conservation value was greatly enhanced and the quarantine station closed for good. This prominent landmark was off-limits to the general public until 1996 when it passed into the care of the Department of Conservation. It’s a regionally significant breeding site for several threatened bird species as well as the common black-backed seagull, and one of the few places to see tuatara in the wild. The Cook Strait giant weta also lives there. The island can be visited by catching the East by West Ferry from Queen’s Wharf in Wellington, or Days Bay in Eastbourne. Check timetables as not all ferries stop there.

This part of the Great Harbour Way runs along a major arterial route – the multilane Hutt Road, part of State Highway 2. It is therefore not recommended for walkers. A bus can be taken from Petone to the Hutt Road at Ngauranga Gorge, where the pathway can be picked up again, or a train from Petone to Wellington station, giving excellent harbour views.

There is work underway to build a shared seaside path between the Petone foreshore and Ngauranga.  This should be completed by 2026.   See the Nga Uranga to Pito-One project updates.

Follow this route with care, and note that the current shared path is designed to be used by cyclists from Petone to Ngauranga only.  If you attempt to cycle from Wellington to Petone on the cycle path, you to be cycling against the flow of traffic. If you do wish to cycle Wellington to Petone, you should travel on the expressway shoulder from Ngauranga to Petone. Take care at the vehicle on/off ramps.]. Leave the Korokoro Gateway car park, and continue along The Esplanade until you reach the cycle track climbing up to the overbridge (there is also a cycle track under the bridge connecting the foreshore with the Hutt Road). From the overbridge, follow the cycle path for a kilometre. At Horokiwi, about a kilometre from the overbridge, the off-road cycle path begins. As you approach the Ngauranga flyover, veer left and right, under the flyover, and turn left into the Hutt Road. Here the cycle path continues. Take care crossing the numerous exits from businesses along this cycle path.

Ngauranga, over which the motorway flyover flies, is thought to have originally been a Ngati Ira canoe-landing site. However, it is believed that when this iwi left for the Chatham Islands in 1835, the kainga passed to Te Atiawa. At the height of the New Zealand Company purchases (the 1840s), around 50 Maori were living at Ngauranga, and although reluctant to relinquish ownership, by the early 20th century the land had passed out of their hands.

As the Hutt Road meets the Ngaio Gorge, you have reached Kaiwharawhara, so-named because of the wealth of wharawhara (Astelia banksii) that grew on the slopes above the stream (which flows still – just past the Spotlight store – although it was once much bigger and heavily forested). The city council’s Project Kaiwharawhara is revegetating this stream and has developed walking tracks for many kilometres right up to Otari-Wilton’s Bush – a possible side trip for walkers who have taken the bus from Petone.

As you approach the Aotea Quay (ferry terminal) flyover, follow the path underneath, through to Thorndon Quay.

Along the Quay, with its wall-to-wall retailers and the odd café, keep on. You will see the Westpac Stadium, (affectionately known as the ‘Cake Tin’), opened in 2000, on your left.

Opposite the Capital Gateway complex is Pipitea Marae, built in the early 1980s to cater for the growing demand of an urban Maori population in the Wellington region. It’s a place where traditional Maori customs are keenly observed, but where people of all iwi and all races meet.

The land above the marae is where Pipitea Pa once stood, a site of great significance to the Maori of Wellington. Overlooking the beach, close to fresh water and cultivation supplies, the pa was originally home to the Ngati Mutunga people who journeyed south from Taranaki in 1824. Patukawenga and Te Poki were the leading figures of the Ngati Mutunga at Pipitea when, in 1835, they renounced their rights to the land in favour of Te Atiawa. They then left for the Chatham Islands. The pa occupied about two and a half hectares and was surrounded by extensive cultivation, and in the early 1940s was home to about 80 people. Much of this area was subsequently claimed by settlers by way of the New Zealand Company’s Port Nicholson Purchase.

On your right is The Thistle Inn, Wellington’s oldest pub – built in 1840.

A few minutes on from Pipitea is Wellington Railway Station, where you should turn left, into Bunny Street. Opened in 1937, the station’s exterior architecture is loosely described as ‘neo-Georgian’ and it’s worthwhile going through the grand front entrance to look at the beautiful ‘Beaux Arts’ style booking hall.

Where Bunny Street meets Customhouse Quay, turn right into Aotea Quay, and at Whitmore Street, cross to the waterfront where this leg ends, by Tug Wharf. [NOT MARKED]

Toilets: 

Public transport:

Accommodation:

Useful contacts:


Leg 6 - Whitmore Street to Seatoun

Oriental Parade (photo by Ross Giblin, (c) Stuff)


This leg of the Great Harbour Way begins at Tug Wharf at the junction of Whitmore Street and Customhouse Quay.[CYCLISTS: May cycle on the waterfront all the way to the end of Oriental Bay, where a cycle lane begins. Think “Cruise the Waterfront” – keep your speed down, don’t pass too close, and make your presence known to pedestrians by using a bell or a cheery greeting.] It has been proposed to name this section Ara Moana.

Free WiFi is available along the waterfront between the Westpac Stadium and Waitangi Park, so if you have a laptop or smartphone you can check your email (or this website).

Follow the Quay with the water’s edge on your left. Keep an eye out for the “Lobster Loos” – a pair of red tentacle like facilities, part artwork, part toilet. You will soon reach Queen’s Wharf with its bars and restaurants. Just past Shed 5, a short detour to your right will take you to The New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts, open to the public and housed in one of many historic heritage buildings, as is the Wellington Museum, next door. This is an excellent place to learn more about Wellington’s maritime history, and features an excellent film and permanent display of the Wahine’s sinking. Alongside the Chicago Bar is Plimmer’s Ark Gallery, which offers a fascinating insight into the 1855 earthquake and the reclamation of Te Aro flat. Plimmer’s Ark, the remains of the sailing ship Inconstant, is undergoing conservation in the gallery. The ship was rediscovered in 1997 under the Old Bank Arcade on Lambton Quay.

A few minutes further along the waterfront, where the ‘rip-rap’ begins (the large rocks piled up to protect the coast from erosion) sits Frank Kitts Park, named after a former Wellington mayor, and home to the mast of the Wahine, along with various sculptures and memorials. If you’re passing on the hour, check out the Wind Whirler, conceived by Len Lye. Here you can also pick up the Wellington Writers Walk, which runs between here and Chaffers Marina, further along the Great Harbour Way – look out for text sculptures along the waterfront, each quoting one of the many writers who have, at some time, made Wellington their home. To undertake the entire Writers Walk, obtain an interpretive map from the website or the Wellington Visitor Centre.

The City to Sea Bridge is on the city-side of the lagoon – cross it to explore Civic Square, the City Gallery and Cuba Mall. Otherwise, continue along the waterfront promenade, past the Wharewaka housing two ceremonial waka, the  historic Odlins Building, and over the Hikitea footbridge. In summer, you may see enthusiastic swimmers braving the drop from the diving platform. This is occasionally closed, not because of the physical hazard, but when the water quality below is deemed to be poor.  Looming beyond is the unmistakable monolith of New Zealand’s national museum – Te Papa, the city’s biggest-ever building project, completed in 1998 and described by its architects as ‘a high intensity roller-coaster architectural adventure’. In front is Solace in the Wind, a bronze sculpture by Max Patte, of a diver leaning into the wind. This attracts curious onlookers, often craning around his front to check if he’s anatomically correct!

The Wellington city waterfront on which you now walk is the result of major land reclamations, begun by private citizens as early as the late 1840s. From 1852 the provincial government oversaw a programme of reclamations, responsibility for which passed to the Wellington City Council (formed in 1870), and later on, shared with the Harbour Board (formed 10 years later). Nearly 360 hectares of land had been reclaimed from the habour by the time the works eventually ceased in the mid 1970s.

Continue along Taranaki Wharf until you reach Chaffers Marina, home to many of the city’s resident and visiting boats. Here, at the art deco Herd Street building that was originally a Post Office headquarters, you can have a coffee by the Marina, or rest awhile in the only-just-saved-from-development Waitangi Park. Originally called Chaffers Park, this was the site of a 10-year battle between park supporters, and developers. One of the city’s rare open spaces, the park’s former uses were hardly illustrious: dog pound, morgue, works depot and site of the ‘destructor’ – an incinerator of ship’s dunnage, the stuffing used to prevent cargo getting wet. A park was planned as early as 1937, but it wasn’t until 2005 that Wellington’s citizens finally got it, and only just.

From the park, head back to the marina to complete a circuit of the wharf, right around the Overseas Passenger Terminal. Or just cut straight across to the start of Oriental Parade. Clyde Quay Marina is on your left behind the boatshed roofs. The eye-catching building just past the sheds is the Freyberg Pool. The golden sand on the beach ahead is not naturally occurring in this area: it is ground-up rock shipped in from Takaka during a 2003, $8 million revamp. Oriental Bay is a splendid place to loiter, with good swimming (lifeguards in summer), coffee kiosk and satisfying people-watching. Just offshore lies the Carter Fountain, built in the 1970s, and in the middle of the parade the band rotunda, built as changing sheds in 1936, now housing a restaurant with a public viewing platform on top.

As you leave the bustle of the bay around Point Jerningham, the horizon expands to take in the Miramar Peninsula on the other side of Evans Bay, and that’s where you’re headed.

At the eastern end of Oriental Bay, an on-road cycle lane starts and is more or less continuous on both sides of the road until Greta Point.

The first bay you reach is Little Karaka Bay; the second is Balaena. Onward through Weka Bay, and past Snapper Point is Kio Bay. At Greta Point the cycle lane ends and a shared path starts on the footpath on the eastern side of the road. An interesting alternative for walkers is to follow the shoreline from the small beach just north of the NIWA research establishment, past the Greta Point townhouses, to rejoin the road just past the Soi restaurant.

After Greta Point is Cog Park. Here you can either keep close to the road, or follow the gravel path around the shoreline. The ‘cog’ is from the Patent Slip used for the repair and maintenance of ships, built in 1873 and decommisioned in 1983. A little further on is Hataitai Beach, with a grassy picnic spot opposite. Just after the boatsheds is the council-owned Evans Bay Marina, which cyclists and walkers can pass through to rejoin the roadside path on Cobham Drive. If you’ve kept to the road , turn left at the busy intersection into Cobham Drive, heading towards the airport. That giant orange needle is Zephyrometer by Phil Price – get underneath and look skyward – dizzy delight if the wind’s blowing the right way! This is the first of several sculptures that you walk or cycle past as you traverse the GHW. Once a popular beach, the bay was used to dump fill from the airport excavations of the 1960s.

Follow Cobham Drive to the Calabar Road roundabout. Waving around in the middle is Pacific Grass by Kon Dimopoulos. To the right is the airport which extends right down to Cook Strait. Head left towards Miramar.

[CYCLISTS: Take the next left into Shelley Bay Road until you reach Shelly Bay.]

Walkers can ignore the left turn into Shelly Bay Road (unless you want an easy option – in which case follow the road to Shelly Bay). For a high level walking route, go through the cutting and take the next left into Maupuia Road. Miramar is on your right, as you walk up, and peeping over the top are the Orongorongos. Continue up Maupuia Road until it turns into Akaroa Drive. Go through the gate ahead, into Maupuia Reserve, and follow the path.

When you meet a signpost to Shelly Bay, follow the path down the hill. When you reach the road, cross it to continue safely walking onwards, to your right. This is a wonderful part of the journey, being relatively quiet, with quiet anonymous bays and blooming pohutukawa trees in summer. Note that there is no footpath, so it is important to keep left.

Shelly Bay is around the next bend. This collection of almost entirely Second World War-era buildings was formerly a Royal New Zealand Air Force base, decommissioned in 1995. The base started out as one of the many military defences around Wellington built as protection against Russian invasion. The base at Shelly Bay was the ‘submarine mining depot’ – completed in the 1880s but never actually utilised. In 1907 the site passed to the navy, and the buildings and wharves were built in 1942. In 1946 the base was transferred to the Air Force and manned right up to its decommission. Today, the land is owned by Taranaki Whanui ki Te Upoko o Te Ika, acquired as part of a Treaty of Waitangi settlement. The Chocolate Fish cafe offers a chance for a break.

A few minutes onward from Shelly Bay there’s a small car park on your left. Follow the path across the road to the Massey Memorial. Unveiled in 1930, this grand memorial of Coromandel granite covered with Kairuru marble from Takaka is dedicated to William Ferguson Massey, New Zealand prime minister 1912-25. An Irish-Scot who was 14 when he arrived in New Zealand, Massey rose from activist farmer, through 18 years of parliamentary opposition to become prime minister, leading much social reform and ushering the country through World War One before his party was broken by the Great Depression.

Backtrack to Shelly Bay Road and continue. You will soon reach Point Halswell, so-named in the 1840s after the Commissioner of Native Reserves. To Maori, this point was known as Kaitawharo (‘to eat jellyfish’), and the surrounding fishing grounds as Rukutoa (‘strong diving’) – only the most skilled divers were capable of obtaining shellfish here, the powerful currents and rough waters making it treacherous.

The bay beyond the point is Kau Bay, on which the Ngati Ira settlement of Kai Whakaaua Waru Kainga used to stand. Early European writers noted several large middens and oven stones here.

Beyond Kau Point lies Mahanga Bay, home to the NIWA Aquaculture Research Facility, where scientists research cold-water fish and shellfish species.

Leaving Mahanga Bay you pass Point Gordon. The hilltop above this point is the site of Fort Balance, formerly Wellington’s principle coastal defence base, one of many built during the ‘Russian scare’. By 1888 it had various guns, magazines, engine rooms and barracks. The Fort complex was soon added to with a musketry parapet, minefield control station, search-light emplacement and underground tunnels. But by the beginning of the First World War, Fort Balance was past its prime, with focus switching instead to Fort Dorset in Seatoun. In 1957 these coastal defences were decommissioned, and in the 1970s they were filled with dirt. Fort Balance was excavated in 1992, and has since assumed the protection of the Historic Places Trust. It is currently not open to the public.

Pass Point Gordon, into Scorching Bay, opening up a new, exciting vista of the harbour entrance (and across to Pencarrow). This is an excellent place for a break, especially if you’ve packed your swimsuit, or indulge at the Scorch o rama Cafe. On a fine day, the open air tables on the seaward side of the road are in great demand.

Continue on the coastal footpath along Karaka Bay Road into Karaka Bay. As you leave the bay, you pass Taipakupaku Point. From the discovery of a Maori burial site and other relics, this area is thought to have been extensively occupied by Maori in the early 1800s.

Worser Bay, past the point, is named after ‘Old Worser’ James Heberley (the original pilot station master), who acquired the nickname after being asked about the weather prospects – his reply: ‘worser’! Worser Bay offers excellent swimming, both on the main beach and at several coves past. The hills above the bay were once the site of Whetu Kairangi Pa, a major fortification built by the chief Tara. (It is said that it was after Tara built this pa he named the harbour after himself – the Great Harbour of Tara, ‘Te Whanganui a Tara’.) The hilltop pa offered protection from invaders and a safe retreat for its neighbours, including those from next door Kakariki-hutia Pa (‘plucked parakeets’), so-named because its chief was said to have hastily eaten several uncooked birds before battling invaders – a meal credited for his fine performance. The unmarked pa site may be reached via a clearly visible zigzag track opposite the south end of the beach – it’s well worth the walk to the top.

Around ten minutes from Worser Bay, you will reach the Seatoun Wharf, where this leg of the Great Harbour Way ends.

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Leg 7 - Seatoun to Sinclair Head

Seatoun


The final leg of the Great Harbour Way begins at Seatoun wharf.

Follow the footpath alongside the beach towards Churchill Park. [CYCLISTS: turn right into Inglis Street and follow it to the top, veering left through the Pass of Branda towards Breaker Bay.] Walk through the park, where on your left you will see the Wahine anchor. Where the park ends at Hector Street, go straight ahead, picking up the path along the seashore.

A short distance away, you will see a number of new houses. These occupy the land where Rangitane’s Oruaiti Pa once stood. It was here that the great exlorer Kupe landed when he first entered Wellington Harbour. He named his landing point Te Turanga o Kupe (‘the great standing place of Kupe’) and left some of his people to grow food and replenish supplies while he explored Cook Strait.

In European times, the site was used to build Fort Dorset, a coastal battery, begun in 1908. Between the two World Wars the defence was permanently manned, but afterwards staff were greatly reduced, and in the early ’60s the guns were removed for scrap. Up until its official closure in 1991, the Fort provided accommodation for military personnel. In 1999, part of the land was of sold for sub-division and some passed into Ministry of Education ownership for a new Seatoun school.

As you approach the escarpment, you can get a good view of Steeple Rock or Te Aroaro o Kupe (‘the groin of Kupe’). While bathing at the rock, Kupe was washed against the jagged edges and badly injured. From here you may either take the uphill path to the left of the school, or when sea conditions are right and the tide allows, (tide times are published daily in the local newspaper, or available in the Wellington Marine Forecast), you may keep to the coast, following it round Point Dorset to Breaker Bay, a dramatic arc flanked by craggy outcrops. For those going over the top, follow the path towards the red pou – take the left fork down to Breaker Bay, or the right to stay on the ridge where it meets the Pass of Branda; when you reach the road, turn left. Note that Breaker Bay has a strong undertow and swimming is not recommended;  and that it is traditionally a “clothing optional” beach.

From Pass of Branda, walkers have the option of following the Eastern Walkway onto the ridge and around to the Ataturk Memorial. Cyclists should stick to the road.

Following the road from Breaker Bay, an amble along several small bays brings you to Palmer Head. The footpath runs out here, so keep left. This rocky point is the site of Wahine Memorial Park, and marks the entrance to Tarakena Bay, site of Rangitatau Reserve. The reserve takes its name from the pa which originally occupied the eastern ridge. The villagers of nearly Poito often used the pa as a refuge in times of threat. Both were attacked and destroyed by raiders from the north in 1819-1820 with a large number of fatalities.

It’s worth taking a detour into the reserve, where a short climb will bring you to the Kemal Ataturk Memorial – a monument erected by the New Zealand government in 1990 to honour the divisional commander (and later president) of Turkey who, having battled against the ANZACs in the WWI Gallipoli campaign, renamed the ill-fated invasion point ‘Anzac Cove’. This memorial was erected to reciprocate Ataturk’s homage, and the site chosen because of its likeness to the cliffs of Gallipoli.

In 2014 a collection of micro tramping huts were erected at the west side of Tarakena Bay as part of a public art project.

Continue along the roadside with care. As you pass Moa Point and approach the airport, the footpath resumes. Follow it through the  tunnel at the end of the runway.  – pause to rubberneck as the odd plane passes overhead.

The breakwater and the long straight mark the entrance to Lyall Bay. As you walk up the straight you can pause to rubberneck as planes take off and land. The bay has long been popular with surfers, with predominantly offshore breezes and a frequent swell. However, local surfers believe the ‘breaks’ could be greatly improved by the construction of an artificial reef; their campaign to have it built has as yet been unsuccessful. In the meantime, bodies and boards doggedly bob about – brave souls, especially when the wind blows!

As you leave Lyall Bay you pass a replica Easter Island/Rapanui Moai statue donated by Chile and approach Te Raekaihau Point. In September 2008 the 800-hectare Taputeranga Marine Reserve was official gazetted here – from Te Raekaihau Point to the old quarry, and 2.3km out to sea – after a 17-year battle by lobby groups. The convergence of three ocean currents here creates a wide range of habitats which attracts a rich mix of plants and animals.

The footpath begins again at Princess Bay & Houghton Bay, where more fearless surfers provide spine-chilling entertainment in high seas.

The picture-postcard settlement of Island Bay is next, unmistakeable with its fishing fleet at anchor and Tapu Te Ranga Island sitting proud. This is much evidence of Maori settlement in this area. Onshore, Te Mupunga Kainga was favoured by both Ngai Tara and Ngati Ira, while the island served as a refuge from invaders. Legend has it that Tamairanga, wife of leading Ngati Ira chief Whanake, and her children sought refuge there during the final battle that forced their iwi from Wellington Harbour. When the island was besieged and defeat was imminent, she and her children escaped in a canoe and fled further up the coast to Mana Island.

As European settlement got underway, Island Bay proved popular with Italian immigrants, attracted by its proximity to the fishing grounds, where many made their living. These families thrived and their community remains strong in the bay today.

On the rocks at the eastern end of the bay, the old bait shed is home to the Island Bay Marine Education Centre.

Look out for three interesting houses as you leave Island Bay. One has two horse heads mounted on the wall, another has a rowing boat, and there is also a lighthouse – supposedly built as a surprise present by a husband with a wife wanting a hideaway to pursue her writing.

Continuing on, you will reach Owhiro Bay (whiro, ‘moonless night’, refers to the first day of the lunar month.) Follow the bay around until the sealed road ends. Pass through the quarry, and into the 600-hectare Te Kopahou Reserve to reach Sinclair Head – about 2-3 hours return walk from Owhiro Bay. There are several tracks inland (and upward!) from here.

In 2014 a miniature hut was erected as part of a public art project on the terrace below the old quarry just to the west of Owhiro Bay.

About an hour’s walk into the reserve is Red Rocks, or Pari-Whero. Maori mythology provides three explanations for the rocks’ striking colour: blood from Maui’s nose stained the rocks when he hauled up the North Island from his canoe; Kupe the Polynesian navigator cut his hand whilst wrestling a giant octopus and bled on the rocks; when Kupe failed to return from a voyage, his daughters cut themselves in mourning after they had given him up for dead. In any event, the rocks are nationally significant, formed about 210 million years ago during undersea volcanic eruptions. The raised shore platform with its pillow lava is note-worthy, being well preserved and accessible. The purple coloured lava was erupted on to the sea floor and instantly cooled. The red colour is caused by finely dispersed iron oxide (haematite) and the green by the clay mineral, chlorite. Red and white-banded rocks contain silica. Eventually all these rocks were compressed, tilted, uplifted and eroded over many years to expose the formation and colour we see today.

Sinclair Head, or Rimurapa, is a winter ‘haul out’ for New Zealand fur seals. During ‘haul out’ (between May and August) the seals, predominantly males, rest up and eat in preparation for the breeding season (November to January). The seals feed on squid, octopus, barracuda, hoki and conger eel. They in turn are prey for sharks, orca whale and leopard seal. Bull fur seals weight up to 160kg and are able to move surprisingly fast. (Warning: seals may become aggressive if threatened. Keep your distance and keep dogs under control at all times. Dogs are not permitted on Sinclair Head between May and August.)

Sinclair Head is the western end of the Great Harbour Way. From here, walk or cycle back to Owhiro Bay, where you can bike back over Brooklyn hill, or catch a bus through Happy Valley into downtown Wellington.

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Walkers looking out towards Red Rocks