Seatoun – Miramar Wharf

See amazing harbour views, visit historic forts, and enjoy some of Wellington’s most memorable coastal scenery

Distance: 10km
🚶 Average walking time: 3-4 hours
🚲 Average cycling time: 1 hour
⛰ Some small climbs if walking
☕ One cafe on the route itself
🚻 Limited toilet and water facilities
🚌 Bus access but limited services
Surface: footpaths, on-road walking & cycling

Families on the Miramar Ciclovia (Photo: Shailie Pidcock)

How much time do you have?


You don’t need to do the whole peninsula. Choose an experience that fits your day. Below times are for if you walk the route.

1 HOUR
Miramar Wharf to Karaka Bay – 3.2km return trip
A short taste of the harbour, beach and coastal scenery.

2 HOURS RETURN
Seatoun to Scorching Bay – 5.2Km return trip
Enjoy the bays and stop for a swim, coffee or lunch.

3-4 HOURS
Complete the peninsula – 10km
Take in the full 10 km route, the great scenery and historic sites.

½ DAY
Peninsula + Wētā Workshop
Combine the route with Wellington’s film-making experience.

View Google Map

Karaka Bay
Colourful seaside houses overlook the entrance to the harbour, and an old telephone booth and a wharf adorn this lovely bay.

Scorching Bay
A sheltered safe swimming beach and the fantastic Scorch-o-Rama cafe make this a very popular place.

Fort Ballance
This nineteenth-century coastal artillery battery is now covered in vibrant local street art and offers expansive harbour views.

Point Halswell
The small lighthouse is a charming gem at the tip of the peninsula, offering stunning views of Wellington harbour.

Massey Memorial
A mausoleum of New Zealand Prime Minister William Massey, with great views over to Wellington and across the harbour.

Wētā Cave
Showcasing the magic, creativity and effects that were used for Lord of the Rings movies and Thunderbirds

🚶 Walking

Good footpaths between Seatoun and Scorching Bay. You will need to walk on the road between Scorching Bay to the Miramar Wharf as there is no footpath along that section of the route yet. Traffic is quiet though.

🚲 Cycling

There is no cycle or shared path on this route yet. Cyclists will have to share the road with vehicles. Traffic is quiet though.

There is no bike hire in Seatoun / along the route.

☕ Food & drink

Scorch-O-Rama Cafe
A wonderful quirky cafe with great service and food, and outdoor seating on the opposite side of the road by the beach (complete with a “Watch out for crossing waiters” sign!).
Google rating: 4.5 stars
Price range: $$ (Mid-range. Meals generally range around $15–$28 NZD).
Opening hours: 8:30am-4pm all days

🚌 Transport

Bus services: the #2 bus will take you from downtown Wellington to stop 6039 by Dundas Street, just before the Seaview wharf. The #2 and #4 bus can be taken back from stop 7080 along Miramar Avenue, close to the Miramar Wharf.
Frequency: every 20-30 minutes depending on the time of the day.
Travel time: about 30 minutes.

🚻 Toilets & water

Public toilets and water taps are available at the following key stops.
– Seatoun Wharf
– Worser Bay
– Scorching Bay
No public toilets and water taps between Scorching Bay and the Miramar Wharf.

More about the peninsula

Discover the stories behind the places you’ll see along the route.

Fort Ballance on Wellington’s Miramar Peninsula is a historic coastal defense site built in 1885 during fears of a Russian naval invasion.
Named after then-Minister of Defence John Ballance, the fortress was erected on the former site of Te Mahanga Pa at Point Gordon. The New Zealand Government commissioned military engineer Major Henry Cautley to design the network of fortifications to protect the main ports as authorities realized they could not rely solely on Britain for protection.

Key historical timeline

  • 1885 (Construction): Built rapidly by the Armed Constabulary, day laborers, and prison inmates in response to the “Russian Scare”. It was designed to prevent enemy ships from entering the inner harbor and to cover underwater minefields.
  • 1885–1911 (Primary Defense): Served as Wellington’s premier and most heavily armed coastal defense fortification.
  • World War I: Remained armed and manned, though its armaments gradually became outdated.
  • 1925 (Retirement): Officially retired from frontline military use as newer sites like Fort Dorset took over primary defense duties.
  • World War II: Saw a brief operational revival and use for storage and anti-aircraft support, but played no major combat role.
  • Present Day: The site is a Heritage New Zealand Category 1 Historic Place, featuring abandoned ruins, underground magazines, and gun pits hidden among the scrub on the Miramar Peninsula.

The Massey Memorial in Wellington is a neoclassical marble mausoleum located at Point Halswell on the Miramar Peninsula, serving as the final resting place of New Zealand’s 19th Prime Minister, William Ferguson Massey, and his wife Christina.

Early site history

  • Māori Significance: The prominent point overlooking Wellington Harbour was originally known as Rukutoa and was the site of a pā named Kai-tawharo (meaning “to eat jellyfish”).
  • Crown Acquisition: The land was taken by the Crown in 1841 and later named after Edmond Halswell, a Commissioner of Native Reserves.
  • Coastal Defence: From 1885, the location served as a military fortification, featuring the Halswell Battery and gun emplacements built amid fears of Russian naval threats.

Construction of the memorial

  • Passing of a Leader: William Massey served as Prime Minister from 1912 until his death in office in 1925.
  • Funding and Design: Funded by £5,000 in public subscriptions and £10,000 from the government, the monument was designed by the Auckland architectural firm Gummer and Ford, with consulting architect Samuel Hurst Seager.
  • Adaptive Reuse: Builders ingeniously converted the old military gun pit and magazine into a marble-lined underground vault holding the tomb, topped by a semi-circular colonnade of seven white marble columns.
  • Unveiling: The grand memorial was officially opened and unveiled on September 19, 1930.

in Wellington is a historic coastal site on the Miramar Peninsula with a rich Māori heritage, 124 years of military use, and a turbulent recent property development saga.

Early Maori History

  • Maru-Kai-Kuru: The bay was originally the site of an early Māori village named Maru-Kai-Kuru.
  • Customary Ownership: The land is part of Te Motu Kairangi (Miramar Peninsula), which held deep significance for local iwi. Following colonisation and the 1839 New Zealand Company deeds, ownership shifted, eventually becoming private farm land owned by James Coutts Crawford in the 1880s.

Military Era (1886-1995)

  • The Russian Scare: The Crown acquired the land under the Public Works Act in 1886 due to fears of a Russian naval attack.
  • Submarine Mining & Navy: It started as a submarine mining depot and artillery base in 1887, transitioning to a Royal Navy base in 1907.
  • HMNZS Cook: During World War II, the base was significantly expanded with mess halls, slipways, and a hospital, and was formally commissioned as HMNZS Cook in 1944 to maintain anti-submarine nets and patrol vessels.
  • Air Force Base: In 1946, ownership transferred to the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF), serving as a major catering and dormitory center that hosted royal visits before closing in 1995.

Treaty Settlement and Controversy (2008-2023)

  • Taranaki Whānui: The land was purchased by the Port Nicholson Block Settlement Trust on behalf of Taranaki Whānui as part of their 2008 Treaty of Waitangi settlement.
  • The Housing Dispute: A massive $500M+ residential development proposal led by developer Ian Cassels sparked years of fierce legal battles, council disputes, and a prolonged land occupation by the Mau Whenua iwi splinter group.
  • Cancellation: Surging construction costs and economic pressures ultimately killed the mega-development, and developer Ian Cassels pulled the plug on the project in September 2023.

Current Status

  • New Ownership: Following the cancellation of the housing project, the Shelly Bay land was purchased by film director Sir Peter Jackson and Dame Fran Walsh.
  • Present Use: The former base buildings and surroundings are undergoing rebuilding.

The Wētā Cave in Wellington is a free-entry retail store and mini-museum located at 1 Weka Street in the suburb of Miramar.

Location & Hours

  • Address: Corner of Weka Street and Camperdown Road, Miramar, Wellington.
  • Opening Hours: Monday to Sunday, 8:45 AM – 5:00 PM.

How to get there

  • Bus: the #2 bus from Wellington CBD, or at bus stop 6080 at Tauhinu Road – not far from the Miramar Wharf.
  • Where to get off: Bus stop 6240 on Darlington Road (near Camperdown Road).
  • Walking distance: About a 3-minute walk (210 meters) from this stop to the to the Wētā Cave at 1 Weka Street.
  • Or walk / bike the 5km route from the Miramar Wharf: up to 1 hour to walk, 15 to 25 minutes to bike.

What you can expect

  • Free Exploration: Entering the Wētā Cave shop costs nothing and requires no ticket.
  • Sights: See giant cave trolls, a sleeping dragon, and props or costumes up close.
  • Mini-Museum & Film: Watch a short documentary about the creative history of the Miramar Peninsula.
  • Shopping: Browse authentic collectibles, prop replicas, art prints, and apparel created by the actual workshop artists.

Guided tours

  • Behind-the-Scenes: Paid 90-minute guided tours are available separately from the free shop. They take you through working studio areas to see armour, props, and artists at work.
  • Booking: You can check availability and options directly via Wētā Workshop Experiences.

Making the Peninsula walking & cycling friendly

For the last few decades local advocacy groups such as Cycle Wellington, Living Streets Aotearoa, and the Great Harbour Way Trust itself have pushed for safer walking and cycling infrastructure around the peninsula. For selected days in 2014, 2016 and more recently in 2024 the peninsula route was closed to vehicles and opened for walkers & cyclists. These Miramar Peninsula Ciclovia events were incredibly popular with thousands of people taking part; showing the demand for making the peninsula walking and cycling friendly.

Since then, the Council has considered options to close the road to vehicles on weekends during the summer or making the route one way for vehicles and using the seaside lane for walking & cycling. This idea has recently been revived with a strong push from the advocacy groups and a petition to the Council. Feel free to add your own voice and email the Council to ask for this route to made walk & cycle friendly.

Walkers and cyclists need to share the road with vehicles.

A Car free route during Ciclovia events

Turning the Peninsula into a park

Miramar Peninsula (known as Watts Peninsula or Mātai Moana) into a public park spanned over a decade of community campaigns, iwi negotiations, and political promises before finally being confirmed in September 2025.

Key milestones in the campaign

  • Early Defence Surpluses (2000s): The New Zealand Defence Force began looking to divest 76 hectares of surplus land on Watts Peninsula, triggering local interest in protecting the historically and ecologically rich area.
  • The 2011 Initial Announcement: Wellington Mayor Celia Wade-Brown, GWRC Chair Fran Wilde, and Minister Chris Finlayson announced plans for a public reserve and steering committee (headed by Sir Ngatata Love) to restore historical sites like Fort Ballance. High-profile local advocates, including film figures Sir Peter Jackson and Sir Richard Taylor, lent their voices to the cause.
  • Years of Delays: Despite the 2011 agreement, the formal transfer and development stalled amid complex administrative, financial, and iwi considerations regarding governance of the whenua (land).
  • Ecological and Community Push: Concurrently, groups like Te Motu Kairangi – Miramar Ecological Restoration mobilized grassroots support to restore native flora and remove pests, keeping public focus on the peninsula’s natural potential.
  • 2025 Reserve Confirmation: Conservation Minister Tama Potaka and Land Information Minister Chris Penk officially confirmed the creation of the 72-hectare public reserve at Mātai Moana. Under the finalized arrangement, the Mātai Moana Charitable Trust—appointed by Taranaki Whānui, Wellington City Council, and the Department of Conservation—was established to manage public access, cultural heritage, and ecological protection.