Te Awarua-o-Porirua Harbour, commonly known as Porirua Harbour, is a natural inlet in the south-western coast of the

North Island The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-larges ...

of New Zealand. The harbour is within the main urban area of the

Wellington Region Greater Wellington, also known as the Wellington Region (Māori: ''Te Upoko o te Ika''), is a non-unitary region of New Zealand that occupies the southernmost part of the North Island. The region covers an area of , and has a population of T ...

, and is surrounded by the city of

Porirua Porirua, ( mi, Pari-ā-Rua) a city in the Wellington Region of the North Island of New Zealand, is one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington metropolitan area. The name 'Porirua' is a corruption of 'Pari-rua', meaning "the tide sw ...

, with the city centre to south of the harbour. It is a regional park, administered by Wellington Regional Council.

Geography

The harbour has an entrance only a few hundred metres in width, close to the suburb of

Plimmerton The suburb of Plimmerton lies in the northwest part of the city of Porirua in New Zealand, adjacent to some of the city's more congenial beaches. State Highway 59 and the North Island Main Trunk railway line pass just east of the main shopping ...

. It opens up into two arms, Onepoto Arm to the south and Pauatahanui Arm to the north-east. Each arm is around three kilometres in length. The Pauatahanui Inlet arm extends eastward to the settlement of Pauatahanui. The wetland there where the Pauatahanui Stream enters the Pauatahanui Inlet, is the largest remaining

estuarine An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environmen ...

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (Anoxic waters, anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in t ...

in the lower North Island, and the Pauatahanui Wildlife Reserve was established in the 1980s to protect the inlet's environment and to restore damaged areas.

History

The Porirua Harbour formed when westward flowing rivers were drowned by rising postglacial sea levels approximately 10000-14000 years ago. There is a tradition that the 1855 Wairarapa Earthquake caused tectonic uplift in the Pauatahanui Arm of the inlet, changing the shoreline and reducing its navigability. However, this tradition has come under scrutiny, with any changes to the inlet's shoreline likely coming from more recent sedimentation. Part of the Porirua Inlet was reclaimed for a causeway carrying the

North Island Main Trunk The North Island Main Trunk (NIMT) is the main railway line in the North Island of New Zealand, connecting the capital city Wellington with the country's largest city, Auckland. The line is long, built to the New Zealand rail gauge of and se ...

railway when the section between

and Mana was straightened and double tracked. The new section of the Kapiti Line was opened on 7 November 1960. A new Paremata Railway Station and bridge over the entrance to the Pauatahanui Inlet were required.Hoy, D.G. ''Rails out of the Capital'' (

NZRLS The New Zealand Railway and Locomotive Society Inc is a society of railway enthusiasts, based in Wellington. It was incorporated in 1958. The society archives are in the ''Thomas McGavin Building'' on Ava railway station's former goods yard in ...

, 1970) pp. 70,71 The line no longer followed the curves of the shoreline bays north of Porirua, and three shallow lagoons on the land side of the new causeway were created. When State Highway 1 was re-aligned and straightened in the 1970s to run alongside the rail line, these lagoons were partially filled in.

Aotea Lagoon Aotea Lagoon is an artificial lagoon surrounded by a public park in the Papakowhai suburb of Porirua, North Island, New Zealand. Aotea and two nearby lagoons were created when major arterial transport links were realigned from the natural coastl ...

was developed into a recreational area, albeit very polluted. The name of the harbour was officially altered to Te Awarua-o-Porirua Harbour in August 2014.

Recreation

The Pauatahanui Inlet is used for windsurfing, but is not recommended for swimming. North of Paremata are the swimming beaches of

and

Karehana Bay Karehana Bay is a bay and nearby residential area at the western end of Plimmerton, a northern coastal locality of Porirua. It is located near the entrance to the Porirua Harbour, to the south-east of Hongoeka. It is about 5 minutes drive to Kar ...

. The southern end of Plimmerton Beach is also exposed to northwesterly winds for windsurfing. There are also fishing spots at Tokaapapa Reef (or Grandfather rocks) off Plimmerton, Mana Island and Hunters Bank. However, weather conditions can change quickly and can be hazardous.

Guardians of Pāuatahanui Inlet

A community group, the Guardians of Pāuatahanui Inlet, was set up in 1991 as a registered charity, to undertake tasks such as cleaning up around the inlet. They also run photographic competitions.

Gallery

References

External links

Guardians of Pauatahanui Inlet's official page Porirua Harbour and Catchment Programme (from WCC)
{{Authority control Porirua Ports and harbours of New Zealand Geography of the Wellington Region Regional parks of New Zealand Landforms of the Wellington Region