Miramar Peninsula

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The large Miramar Peninsula is on the southeastern side of the city of Wellington, New Zealand, 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.SituationFrom 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 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.