Location

Clyde Quay Wharf is a finger wharf on the eastern edge of Wellington’s inner harbour, at the point where the city waterfront turns towards Oriental Bay. The original concrete wharf was finished in 1910 by the Wellington Harbour Board, widened and lengthened in the 1960s for the Overseas Passenger Terminal, and strengthened again between 2012 and 2014 when the present apartment building went up on it.

That position is what makes it interesting to write about. It sits at a hinge between the working port’s history, the public promenade that now runs along most of the waterfront, and the residential slopes of Mount Victoria. Wind, salt and foot traffic all arrive here at once.

The pages in this section look at the place from a few angles:

• Wellington: the city around the harbour, and why its waterfront developed the way it did.
• A wharf address: what wind, salt spray and public access mean for anyone living or working over the water.
• The neighbourhood: Oriental Bay, Te Aro, Chaffers Marina, Waitangi Park and the streets behind them.
• A text map: how the wharf sits relative to the landmarks around it, described in words rather than an embedded map.
• Heritage: the wharf’s longer story, from Harbour Board cargo wharf to passenger terminal to housing.

For an official overview of the public waterfront, Wellington City Council keeps a page on the Wellington waterfront. The Greater Wellington historic heritage addendum report from May 2020 sets out the wharf’s construction phases in detail.