Mechanics Bay () is a

reclaimed Land reclamation, often known as reclamation, and also known as land fill (not to be confused with a waste landfill), is the process of creating new land from oceans, seas, riverbeds or lake beds. The land reclaimed is known as reclamation ...

bay on the

Waitematā Harbour The Waitematā Harbour is the main access by sea to Auckland, New Zealand. The harbour forms the northern and eastern coasts of the Auckland isthmus and is crossed by the Auckland Harbour Bridge. It is matched on the southern side of the city ...

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

, New Zealand. It is also the name of the area of the former bay that is now mainly occupied by commercial and port facilities. Sometimes the bay formed between

Tāmaki Drive Tamaki Drive is the coastal road which follows the contours of the Waitematā Harbour, Auckland, New Zealand. The road links the suburbs Ōrākei, Mission Bay, New Zealand, Mission Bay, and Kohimarama ending in Saint Heliers providing easy acce ...

and the western reclamation edge of Fergusson Container Terminal is also referred to as Mechanics Bay.

History

The bay was called Te Tōangaroa by

Tāmaki Māori Tāmaki Māori are Māori ''iwi'' and ''hapū'' (tribes and sub-tribes) who have a strong connection to Tāmaki Makaurau (the Auckland Region), and whose rohe was traditionally within the region. Among Ngā Mana Whenua o Tāmaki Makaurau (the M� ...

, referring to the need to drag

waka WAKA (channel 8) is a television station licensed to Selma, Alabama, United States, serving as the CBS affiliate for the Montgomery area. It is owned by Bahakel Communications alongside Tuskegee-licensed CW+ affiliate WBMM (channel 22); B ...

a long distance during low tide in the bay. During the early colonial era of Auckland, Mechanics Bay was the main trading port on the

for Māori, in a separate location from the main

Auckland waterfront The Auckland waterfront (rarely the Auckland harbourfront) is a city-side stretch of the southern Waitematā Harbour coastline in Auckland, New Zealand. Previously mostly dominated by Ports of Auckland uses, from the 2000s on it is becoming i ...

European settlement

Along the harbour shore between

Point Britomart Point Britomart () was a headland in the Waitematā Harbour, in Auckland (), New Zealand. Located between Commercial Bay and Official Bay, Auckland, Official Bay,

and St Stephen's Point in Parnell were four bays: Official Bay, Mechanics Bay, St Georges Bay and Judges Bay. Some have now disappeared due to land reclamation and the quarrying of the bordering headlands. Closest to Point Britomart was Official Bay, so called because many government officials lived there during the 1840s. Almost contiguous with Official Bay was Mechanics Bay. It took its name from its use in housing the labour force the government had brought to construct the new capital. Mechanics Bay contained the mouth of the stream issuing from the springs in the

Auckland Domain The Auckland Domain, also known as Pukekawa / Auckland Domain, is a large park in Auckland, New Zealand. Consisting of of land, Auckland Domain is the oldest park in the city. Located in the central suburb of Grafton, New Zealand, Grafton, the ...

to the south. The Bay had a broad, flat beach where Māori had long been in the habit of beaching their

(canoes). Next to Mechanics Bay was St George's Bay and then

Judges Bay A judge is an official who presides over a court. Judge or Judges may also refer to: Roles *Judge, an alternative name for an adjudicator in a competition in theatre, music, sport, etc. *Judge, an alternative name/aviator call sign for a membe ...

, so named because three of the magistrates of the early colony built their houses there. Next to Judges Bay is St Stephen's point, where a small chapel was built. As early as the 1860s this shore front began to be modified by the European settlers. In particular it was in order to get the railway tracks around to the bottom of Queen Street that Point Britomart was quarried away and Official Bay and Mechanics Bay filled in. Initially the railway tracks came through the gully that lay between the Auckland Domain and the suburb of Parnell, but later when a second route was formed further to the east through Meadowbank the shoreline between Mechanics Bay and

Hobson Bay Hobson Bay is a bay in the Auckland Region of New Zealand's North Island. It is located to the east of the Auckland City Centre, and is bisected by the Eastern Line (Auckland), Eastern Line and Tamaki Drive. Description Hobson Bay is a tidal ...

was also modified. St Georges Bay ceased to exist and became the shunting yard for the railway station, and Judges Bay was separated from the harbour by a railway embankment. The major thoroughfare of Mechanics Bay is Beach Road, which once ran around the beach front of the now reclaimed Mechanics Bay. The former Auckland Railway Station is located here, an impressive brick 1930s structure designed by Gummer and Ford. Formerly located at the bottom of Queen Street, the station was moved to Beach Road to be the centrepiece for the new downtown business area of Auckland. The plan was not a success. The station was decommissioned and the railway terminal returned to its original location, now named the

Britomart Transport Centre Britomart Station, officially Waitematā railway station, and formerly known as Britomart Transport Centre, is the public transport hub in the central business district of Auckland and the northern terminus of the North Island Main Trunk rai ...

Aviation

New Zealand's first

international airport An international airport is an airport with customs and border control facilities enabling passengers to travel between countries. International airports are usually larger than domestic airports, and feature longer runways and have faciliti ...

was in Mechanics Bay. The first aircraft connecting New Zealand with the rest of the world in the 1930s were

flying boat A flying boat is a type of seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a floatplane in having a fuselage that is purpose-designed for flotation, while floatplanes rely on fuselage-mounted floats for buoyancy. Though ...

s. International flights from Britain by

Imperial Airways Imperial Airways was an early British commercial long-range airline, operating from 1924 to 1939 and principally serving the British Empire routes to South Africa, India, Australia and the Far East, including Malaya and Hong Kong. Passengers ...

via

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

connected with

TEAL alt=American teal duck (male), Green-winged teal (male) Teal is a greenish-blue color. Its name comes from that of a bird—the Eurasian teal (''Anas crecca'')—which presents a similarly colored stripe on its head. The word is often used ...

for the

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

to Auckland leg. Flights by Pan American from America via

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

also landed at Auckland. The

Short Solent The Short Solent is a passenger flying boat that was produced by Short Brothers in the late 1940s. It was developed from the Short Seaford, itself a development of the Short Sunderland military flying boat design. The first Solent flew in 19 ...

Boeing 314 The Boeing 314 Clipper was an American long-range flying boat produced by Boeing from 1938 to 1941. One of the largest aircraft of its time, it had the range to cross the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. For its wing, Boeing re-used the design fro ...

flying boats landed in Mechanics Bay, which was the centre of international aviation for New Zealand until the 1950s. Even after the construction of

Auckland International Airport Auckland Airport is an international airport serving Auckland, the most populous city of New Zealand. It is the largest and busiest airport in the country, with over 18.7 million passengers served in the year ended December 2024. The airport ...

Māngere Māngere () is a major suburb in South Auckland, New Zealand, located on mainly flat land on the northeastern shore of the Manukau Harbour, to the northwest of Manukau, Manukau City Centre and south of the Auckland CBD, Auckland city centre. ...

in the 1960s, Mechanics Bay was still used by flying boats to the Pacific Islands, e.g. for the ''Coral Route'' to Fiji. From 1962 to 1989, Mechanics Bay was home to first Tourist Air Travel, then

Mount Cook Airline Mount Cook Airline was a regional airline based in Christchurch, New Zealand. Formerly part of the Mount Cook Group and latterly a subsidiary of Air New Zealand, it operated scheduled services throughout the country under the Air New Zealand ...

then Sea Bee Air operating a fleet of

Grumman Goose The Grumman G-21 Goose is an amphibious flying boat designed by Grumman to serve as an eight-seat "commuter" aircraft for businessmen in the Long Island area. The Goose was Grumman's first monoplane to fly, its first twin-engined aircraft, and ...

Grumman Widgeon The Grumman G-44 Widgeon is a five-person, twin-engined, amphibious aircraft. It was designated J4F by the United States Navy and Coast Guard and OA-14 by the United States Army Air Corps and United States Army Air Forces. Design and developmen ...

and Grumman Turbo Goose amphibian aircraft for regular scheduled passenger and freight services to the islands of the

Hauraki Gulf The Hauraki Gulf / Tīkapa Moana is a coastal feature of the North Island of New Zealand. It has an area of 4000 km2,Great Barrier Island, Great Barrier and

Waiheke Island Waiheke Island is the second-largest island (after Great Barrier Island) in the Hauraki Gulf of New Zealand. Its ferry terminal in Matiatia Bay at the western end is from the central-city terminal in Auckland. It is the most populated island ...

s) and operated charter flights to other areas such as the

Bay of Islands The Bay of Islands is an area on the east coast of the Far North District of the North Island of New Zealand. It is one of the most popular fishing, sailing and tourist destinations in the country, and has been renowned internationally for ...

Manukau Manukau (), or Manukau Central, is a suburb of South Auckland, New Zealand, centred on the Manukau City Centre business district. It is located 23 kilometres south of the Auckland Central Business District, west of the Southern Motorway, ...

Kaipara Harbour Kaipara Harbour is a large enclosed harbour estuary complex on the north western side of the North Island of New Zealand. The northern part of the harbour is administered by the Kaipara District and the southern part is administered by the Auck ...

s and elsewhere around the country and to Pacific islands. Operating from what is now the Marine Rescue Centre, they were located near Compass Dolphin (since destroyed in a fierce storm in the early 1990s). Auckland Marine Rescue Centre Overhead

Mechanics Bay also has a heliport, which has been the base for a number of sightseeing and commercial flight companies, as well as the Westpac Rescue Helicopter and NZ Police Air Support Unit known as the Eagle Helicopter. It is located next to the Auckland Marine Rescue Centre at the eastern end of the

Ports of Auckland Port of Auckland Limited (POAL), the successor to the Auckland Harbour Board, is the Auckland Council-owned company administering Auckland's commercial freight and cruise ship harbour facilities. As the company operates all of the associated fac ...

container terminal. In May 2013 a helicopter crashed in the water off Mechanics Bay, both the pilot and passenger were quickly rescued from the water unharmed by a nearby navy boat. Bell 427 ZK-HVN at Mechanics Bay

Eagleflight Aviation have occupied and operated Mechanics Bay Heliport since mid-2018. A fleet of Airbus/Eurocopter H130 helicopters are operated by luxury charter company Helicopter Me.

Surrounding area

At its eastern end where Beach Road turns into Parnell Rise is a major intersection, over which the railway is carried on a metal viaduct. The road to the north is The Strand which follows the shore line of the reclaimed St Georges Bay. The road to the south is Stanley Street, which turns into Grafton Road as it ascends the hill towards the hospital and Auckland Domain. Stanley Street is named for Mrs Stanley, who lived in the area during the 1850s and ran a well known and apparently well regarded girls school. On the corner of Stanley Street and Parnell Rise is the Strand Hotel. This building is almost overpowered by the busy intersection and by the railway viaduct passing close to it. When the Strand Hotel was built in the 1840s as the Swan Hotel it stood directly on the quayside as a waterfront pub. Just opposite it on the other corner of Stanley Street stood the Native Hostel. Long before the Europeans arrived,

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

had beached their wakas on the broad flat beach just here and right from the founding of Auckland in 1840 into the late 20th century this portion of land was reserved for their use. The 19th century hostel buildings only disappeared in the 1970s, when they were replaced by a depot for the

New Zealand Post Office The New Zealand Post Office (NZPO) was a government department of New Zealand until 1987. It was previously (from 1881 to 1959) named the New Zealand Post and Telegraph Department (NZ P&T). As a government department, the New Zealand Post Office ...

Climate

External links

Photographs of Mechanics Bay
held in

Auckland Libraries Auckland Council Libraries, usually simplified to Auckland Libraries, is the public library system for the Auckland Region of New Zealand. It was created when the seven separate councils in the Auckland region merged in 2010. It is currently the ...

heritage collections.

References

*''Decently And In Order, The Centennial History of the Auckland City Council''. G.W.A Bush. Collins 1971. *''Auckland Through A Victorian Lens''. William Main. Millwood Press 1977. *''Auckland's Original Shoreline''. Dr Nerida Campbell. Heart of the City 2005. *''The Lively Capital, Auckland 1840-1865''. Una Platts. Avon Fine Prints Limited New Zealand 1971. {{Coord, -36.847631, 174.785149, region:NZ_type:city, display=title Heliports in New Zealand Suburbs of Auckland Transport buildings and structures in the Auckland Region Auckland CBD Waitematā Harbour Bays of Auckland