My Wellington: Past and present on Miramar Peninsula
Saturday, 21 June 2025
Te Papa Tongarewa head of New Zealand and Pacific Histories and Cultures, Paul Diamond, wheels between his home on Mt Victoria, and the history and modern pleasures of Miramar Peninsula where his partner lives.
My favourite thing about Miramar Peninsula?
I’m a bit obsessed with Te Karaka (Karaka Bay) kāinga. I was given a copy of a photograph, probably taken in 1885, of a group there. There are also photos of raupō (bulrush) whare in that area. There are pā sites all over the peninsula that I love learning about, the layers of occupation and different iwi that were there. And now it’s predator free.
A good way to start the day?
When I’m on the peninsula in the mornings I try to walk for 30 or 40 minutes, starting before 7am ‒ that’s a great part of the day ‒ to go to Scorching Bay and there’s about three tracks back up to Nevay Rd, before coffee and going to work. It’s a good walk with a friend or my partner and a great way to clear my head.
To get to work in the city I like to bike because …
I really like urban cycling. I think we’ve now passed a tipping point with cycling despite how some people feel about cycle lanes. Everyone’s just trying to get to where they’re going without being killed. It took a “pedal ready” course to give me the confidence to cycle in Wellington.
Tacks on cycleways are so dangerous, especially when people are using bikes to take kids around.
I’m looking forward in the next few months to being able to put my bike on buses again if my bike is broken in some way or I’m wanting to get to a particular point to start riding. The bike is too big to fit in the car and really awkward to carry. We have a great system of buses in Wellington.
If you’re looking for somewhere to eat in Miramar you can’t go past …
Oikos on Broadway, great food! Bongusto on Miramar Ave on Friday nights especially, great pizza, good value, both wonderful family owned businesses. I love the fruit bread from Shelly Bay Baker on Park Rd. As well as the baking Shelly Bay is now doing coffee and you can buy some ingredients like eggs and olives. It’s a great local business and it supports Canterbury wheat growers.
Best place to do yoga?
With Tessa Meek and her team at the Iyengar Yoga Centre in Swan Lane, Te Aro. It’s a great studio, and a different way of doing yoga. That’s part of the city side of my life. You can build your own community. Yoga is just around the corner from Bicycle Junction, which is around the corner from Mandatory Menswear, and then Bowen Galleries. I know the people and you can do this in Wellington because everything’s so compact.
The perfect Saturday morning is …
Finding a copy of The Post Weekend. I really like Nicola Galloway’s recipes column. She puts vegetables in strange places. Galloway is quite clever, very seasonal, always very achievable, and I might even have the ingredients in the cupboard.
My favourite place to take a visitor to Wellington would be …
Now it’s the Wellington sign but I think it was the Maupuia Pā site just south of what is now the Miramar cutting. The pā was on the narrow part of the Rongotai Ridge. It was built and occupied by the Ngāti Hinepari hapu of Ngāi Tara. It’s a reasonably short walk to the sign, and a great view and piece of history. You need to stay away from the edge, because there’s quite a drop.
Just past the cutting there’s a drainage tunnel entrance that might be the oldest in New Zealand.
Best libraries, as I use a few …
We seem to be great book readers. E-readers haven’t stopped that. My favourite libraries are the Alexander Turnbull, and the National Library and I also use the Miramar Library Motu-kairangi. And the best library cafe is the Collective Coffee Shop & Co at the Te Awe Library on Brandon St, incredibly friendly people and great food. I really miss the central library as a hub and community space, but Te Papa also serves that purpose.