Miramar Peninsula - Situation

Situation

From above, the Miramar Peninsula resembles the shape of a shark. Northwards, the peninsula juts into Wellington Harbour (formerly known as Port Nicholson, and in Māori as Te Whanganui-a-Tara, the Great Harbour of Tara). To the south is Cook Strait and the South Pacific Ocean. The suburbs of Kilbirnie, Lyall Bay, Hataitai and Newtown, and the inner city, lie to the west. To the east a narrow stretch of water connects Wellington Harbour with the Cook Strait and the open sea; beyond this channel are the scrubby Eastbourne hills, and the high and forested Orongorongo Ranges. From the peninsula's high points, an observer can look north to the Hutt Valley and the Tararua Ranges, or southwest, across Cook Strait, to the high peaks of the Inland and Seaward Kaikoura Ranges, which are often snowbound in winter.