Porirua Harbour
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Porirua Harbour is a natural inlet in the southestern coast of the North Island of New Zealand. The city of Porirua, one of the four cities that comprise the Wellington conurbation, is situated on its edge. The city centre is to the south of the harbour.
The harbour has a narrow entrance only a few hundred metres in width, close to the suburb of Plimmerton. Beyond this, it opens up into two lobes, one to the south and one to the northeast known as the Porirua and Pauatahanui Inlets respectively. Each lobe is around three kilometres in length.
The wetland at Pauatahanui where Pauatahanui Stream enters the Pauatahanui Inlet is the largest remaining estuarine wetland in the lower North Island, and the Pauatahanui Wildlife Reserve has been established and work has been undertaken to protect the Inlet's environment and to restore damaged areas.
Part of the southern arm of Porirua Harbour was reclaimed for a causeway for the North Island Main Trunk Railway. The construction of this causeway created three shallow lagoons from the Harbour. When State Highway 1 was re-aligned in the 1970s to run directly alongside the railway, these lagoons were partially filled in. One, Aotea Lagoon, was developed into a recreational area.
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