Веллингтон қаласының құрлық бөлігі: Те Моту Кайранги Мирама́р түбегі

Land in Wellington city, New Zealand

Te Motu Kairangi / Miramar Peninsula is a large peninsula on the southeastern side of the city of Wellington, New Zealand. It is located at the entrance to Wellington Harbour, in Wellington's eastern suburbs. According to Māori legend, it was formed when the taniwha Whaitaitai beached as he tried to escape the confines of the harbour. It contains the suburbs of Miramar, Seatoun, Strathmore Park, and Karaka Bays.

From above, the peninsula resembles the shape of a shark. Northwards, it 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 are 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 Cook Strait and the open sea; beyond this channel are the scrubby Eastbourne hills, and the high and forested Ōrongorongo 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 Kaikōura Ranges, which are often snowbound in winter.

The peninsula has an area of The coastline is rocky, with many coves, steep cliffs, and small pinnacles and caves, but there are also sweeping and sandy beaches, notably at Breaker Bay, Worser Bay, Scorching Bay, Moa Point and Tarakena Bay. A high ridge running on an approximate north–south axis forms the spine of the peninsula, with high points Mount Crawford in the north and Beacon Hill in the south. The peninsula has a large area of low lying land, the Miramar flats, and a smaller area of flat land at Seatoun, both of which are mainly covered in residential housing. The peninsula is largely urbanized, with large suburbs of Miramar, Maupuia, Strathmore and Seatoun, and narrow strips of houses along the coast at Breaker Bay, Karaka Bay and Moa Point. The urban area is a mix of suburban housing, retail outlets, schools, light and service industries, recreation grounds (such as a golf course and sports fields), and Wellington Airport. There are also extensive areas of regenerating native bush, pine forest, and remnant farmland, as well as urban gardens. A narrow two lane road circles the peninsula, providing a picturesque route around the many bays, coves and headlands. At the entrance to Wellington Harbour, the rocks of Barrett Reef lie close to the shore of the peninsula. On 10 April 1968 TEV Wahine, an inter island ferry, foundered on Barrett Reef and later capsized near Steeple Rock, a pinnacle just off Seatoun. 53 people were killed.

The peninsula is exposed to Wellington's prevailing northwest wind and the southerly wind. During southerly storms, big waves and swells batter the peninsula's rocky southern shore. The peninsula's topography, with its high ridges and small bays and coves, provides shelter from the wind in many places. On 15 August 2011, during a prolonged southerly storm, snow fell across the peninsula in the late morning, settling in light drifts on trees, streets and fields. Like other parts of Wellington, snowfall at sea level is a very rare occurrence.

Cobham Drive is the main road connecting Miramar with the rest of Wellington city. It runs around the north end of Wellington Airport, at Evans Bay. Buses run frequently between Miramar and the city, and the harbour ferry connects with places around Wellington Harbour: Queens Wharf, Days Bay, Petone, and Matiu / Somes Island. A cycle path runs from Miramar to the central city, starting at Burnham Wharf and continuing along Cobham Drive, Evans Bay Parade and Oriental Parade.

The peninsula has several sports clubs: Miramar Rangers, a semi professional football club, founded in 1907; Seatoun AFC, an amateur football club founded in 1909; and Oriental Rongotai Football Club ('Ories'), an amateur rugby club formed in 1888. The Eastern Suburbs Cricket Club, in nearby Kilbirnie, covers junior and senior cricketers on the peninsula.

Film director Peter Jackson has based his film production empire in Miramar, with studios, sound stages, and pre and post production facilities. Weta Workshop, involved in many movies directed by Jackson, such as The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, King Kong, and The Hobbit, is also in Miramar.

The Māori name for the area when it was still an island was Te Motu Kairangi (meaning "esteemed" or "precious" island). The island was separated from the main island (Te Ika a Māui) by a sea channel called Te Awa a Taia (the channel of Taia); this was where Kilbirnie is now. The peninsula area later became known as Hataitai or Whataitai.

James Coutts Crawford arrived in Wellington in 1839 and purchased five land orders from The New Zealand Company for 1,300 guineas, which included five acres of town land and 5,000 acres of country land, thus he acquired the Miramar peninsula which was then known as "Watt's Peninsula". Crawford established his cattle farm at the north end of the lake and named it "Glendavar". Crawford wrote in 1840 that the hills were "chiefly clothed with the common fern mixed with flax" and:the flat may be said to have been chiefly occupied by water spread over about 200 acres of central area, and the water from it extended up the large swamps both to the north and south, lying, in general, nearly flush with the surface of the swamps. Henry Maynard Christie documented two farms on the peninsula by 1847 which he called "Glandavar" and "Tetcott". Glandavar was in the north end close under the hills. Tetcott was owned by Francis Molesworth and was in the south east corner of the plain. Christie also mentions that Māori brought eels from Heretaunga (Hutt River) and kept them in the lake as a store. The Rotokura/Burnham Waters lake was drained by James Coutts Crawford via a drainage tunnel built in 1847 (and widened in 1859) which was apparently New Zealand's first tunnel. This tunnel through Rongotai ridge is still there north of the 'Wellington' sign on Shelly Bay Road. James Coutts Crawford named his house "Miramar" which is Spanish for "sea view". When the farmland was purchased by the City Council in 1901 to be sold for housing, the land was named as "Miramar Estate" which lead to the suburb retaining the name "Miramar". New Zealand's first permanent racecourse was created in 1847 in Miramar: The Wellington Independent published the announcement of the new race course on 2 October 1847 as: "The undersigned, having made arrangement with the proprietor of the land situated between Burnham Water, and Lyall's Bay, for the formation of a Race Course". In the 1880s the "Russian Scare" was gripping the nation, with people fearing an invasion by Russia. New Zealand embarked on building fortifications to defend itself from attack by sea. In an era when naval power was based mainly on battleships, Miramar Peninsula's strategic position made it ideal for coastal guns to prevent enemy warships from entering Wellington Harbour. Large coastal artillery fortifications were built at Fort Ballance in 1885, and at Fort Dorset from 1908

In the first years of the 20th century Miramar was still within "Hutt County" (which encompassed the whole Wellington region south of the Waikanae river, excluding Wellington City). The rates levied by the county in 1902 rose from ¼d per £1 of the property's value up to a new rate of 1d per £1 of value. Very little had been spent in Miramar by the county for the previous decade, and locals expressed their anger at the increased rates, resulting in a reduction back to ¾d per £1. A local resident (Mr C. J. Crawford) contested this in the Supreme Court, winning a ruling that "the rate charged must be in accordance with service rendered in each Riding". The anger continued when the Hutt County Council threatened to appeal to the Privy Council. A petition was collected among Miramar residents and presented to the Governor, and on 10 November 1904 the Seatoun Road Board District was constituted as a Borough and proclaimed in the New Zealand Gazette. Mr C. J. Crawford was subsequently elected the first Mayor of Miramar Borough Council. Miramar was not yet linked to Wellington city by road. There were three ferries from Miramar, Karaka Bay and Seatoun wharves. Some early accounts mention a land approach by "rough bullock track" over Constable Street hill over the sand isthmus. Miramar plain was entirely surrounded by hills at this time. Miramar Borough amalgamated with Wellington City on 31 January 1921.

A brick factory operated on the eastern hills from 1919 to 1968. All that remains now is a brick wall lining Ira street. The streets of Miramar plain were lined with red bricks as curbing. Some still remain in south Miramar streets.

Miramar Borough amalgamated with Wellington City on 31 January 1921. Rongotai aerodrome opened in 1929. This was in approximately the same location as Burger King Miramar is today.

New Zealand's first state house was built at 7 Fife Lane Miramar. Prime Minister Michael Joseph Savage and several cabinet ministers helped to carry in the furniture of Wellington bus conductor David McGregor and his wife Mary on 18 September 1937.

In the 1940s and the Second World War the peninsula was still an important component of an evolving coastal defence system, designed to protect the capital, harbour and hinterland from naval attack. A lookout post was built at Palmer Head in 1938. In the Second World War, the advent of naval air power made these coastal fortifications largely redundant, because an enemy could carry out aerial attacks, using planes launched from aircraft carriers well beyond the range of even the largest shore based guns.

The hill to the west of the Miramar plain was flattened in the 1950s and used to reclaim land from the sea to form the new airport runway. The residential street of Rongotai Tce ran along the hill ridge and was completely removed and all houses demolished. Over the years since the airport was built the suburb names have drifted location. The houses in south west Miramar from the gasometer to the golf course were in Rongotai but the name has now drifted south west towards Rongotai College. Likewise a shore point named "Moa point" was subsumed into the southern end of the runway resulting in the name now only being used by to describe remaining houses to the east. Wellington Airport in its current location was opened on 24 October 1959, replacing Rongotai Aerodrome.

In early November 2023, Miramar Peninsula was declared pest free. This was the result of 11,000 bait stations, 450 cameras, and the work of 20,000 Miramar residents. This resulted in a 71% increase in birdlife since the project began.