Oriental Bay – Wellington’s favourite beach and waterfront walk – is a suburb of Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand, located close to the Central Business District on Wellington Harbour. It has the closest beach to the centre of the city called Oriental Bay Beach. Just to the left of the bay is the Clyde Quay Marina and Freyberg Pool.
Oriental Bay and the surrounding shoreline has recently been renovated. In December 2002, the Wellington City Council began building a bigger beach at Oriental Bay. The project involved enlarging and enhancing the existing Freyberg and Oriental Bay beaches, and adding a new beach east of the Band Rotunda - an area that used to be covered by stones.
The upgrade involved over 27,000 tonnes of sand. The sand for the new beaches was imported from Takaka, near Golden Bay - Nelson in the South Island of New Zealand. The beach's total sand area is now four times larger than before and the Freyberg grass area is twice as large. This renovation has made the promenade along Oriental Bay an integral part of the seafront walk that extends all along Central Wellington. The shoreline is lined with numerous hotels and car park.
Along with the beach expansion, a pier, new toilet and changing facilities, playground have been built, better lighting put in, extra car parks have been created and new coastal structures built to hold the beach in place – all of which make Oriental Bay the perfect place to catch some sun and enjoy a day at the beach.
Oriental Bay Beach is also one of the best spots in the capital to catch the last of the sun’s rays in the evening. It’s where picnickers head with their sandwiches, fish ‘n chips and glasses of wine and where people from all over the city come to walk, swim, run, cycle or just sit and enjoy an ice cream in the evening sun.
