Miramar Peninsula - Notable Landmarks

Notable Landmarks

Notable landmarks on the peninsula include:

• Wellington International Airport: its runway runs north-south along the peninsula's western side, separating Miramar from the suburbs of Rongotai, Lyall Bay and Kilbirnie. A tunnel for pedestrians and cyclists runs on an west/east axis beneath the runway, from Miro Street in Miramar to Coutts Street in Rongotai.

• Massey Memorial: the marble mausoleum of former New Zealand Prime Minister William Massey (1856 - 1925), sited on a headland at Point Halswell, at the northern tip of the peninsula. The memorial can be accessed from Massey Road, along a short walking track.

• Atatürk Memorial: a plinth on a cliff overlooking Tarakena Bay and the Cook Strait, it commemorates Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, founder of the Republic of Turkey, statesman and general, who led Turkish troops in action against New Zealand soldiers at Gallipoli in the First World War.

• Rangitatau and Poito: a historic site of a Maori kainga (village) and pa is located in bush above Tarakena Bay, near the Ataturk Memorial. In pre-European times, people of the Ngai Tara and Ngati Ira iwi lived here, using the site for fishing in the waters of the Cook Strait. In 1819-20, Nga Puhi and Ngati Toa raiders attacked and sacked the pa, and killed, enslaved or drove off its inhabitants.

• Eastern Walkway: a walking track which traverses the main Miramar ridge, from the Pass of Branda to Tarakena Bay. The track runs for 2.5 km, passing mainly through regenerating native forest, and provides walkers with excellent views of Wellington city, the Miramar Peninsula, Wellington Harbour and the Cook Strait.

• The cutting: a trench cut through a low ridge on the peninsula's eastern side, which provides a throughfare from Cobham Drive to Miramar Avenue and into central Miramar. The cutting was constructed in 1910. Above the entrance to the cutting is a large sign, 'Wellington', with the last few letters angling up, as if being blown away in the fierce wind.

• Shelly Bay buildings: from 1885 to 1995, Shelly Bay was used as a naval and air force base, and many barracks, workshops, stores, wharves and slipways were built. Concrete munitions magazines are situated in pine forest above the bay. The area is now owned by local iwi, through the Port Nicholson Trust.