The settlement of Harington Point (often incorrectly spelt ''Harrington Point'') lies within the boundaries of the city of

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. It is located at the Otago Heads, at the northeastern end of

Otago Peninsula The Otago Peninsula ( mi, Muaūpoko) is a long, hilly indented finger of land that forms the easternmost part of Dunedin, New Zealand. Volcanic in origin, it forms one wall of the eroded valley that now forms Otago Harbour. The peninsula lies sou ...

, close to the entrance of

Otago Harbour Otago Harbour is the natural harbour of Dunedin, New Zealand, consisting of a long, much-indented stretch of generally navigable water separating the Otago Peninsula from the mainland. They join at its southwest end, from the harbour mouth. It ...

. The mouth of the harbour is at its narrowest at Harington Point, only some 400 metres separating the point from the mudflats at

Aramoana Aramoana is a small coastal settlement north of Dunedin on the South Island of New Zealand. The settlement's permanent population in the 2001 Census was 261. Supplementing this are seasonal visitors from the city who occupy cribs. The name '' ...

on the opposing coast. Harington Point is located between

Taiaroa Head Taiaroa Head is a headland at the end of the Otago Peninsula in New Zealand, overlooking the mouth of the Otago Harbour. It lies within the city limits of Dunedin. The nearest settlement, Otakou, lies three kilometres to the south. The cape is h ...

, the site of the only mainland royal albatross colony in the world, and Te Rauone beach, historically known for its many sand dunes which have eroded. The settlement can be reached via a 45-minute drive from Dunedin City on sealed roads, and is also serviced 7 days per week by a regular bus service taking 60 minutes from the city center, as well as a school bus. Despite its small size, Harington Point offers accommodation ranging from holiday houses to self-contained motel units.

Wildlife

The settlement of Harington Point is the closest residential area to the albatross colony, as well as several other regionally important wildlife colonies. Between Harington Point and Taiaroa Head is Pilot's Beach, where little blue penguins are seen returning to nest at dusk. Over the hills southwest of Harington Point is the "Penguin Place Conservation Reserve", a nesting colony of

yellow-eyed penguin The yellow-eyed penguin (''Megadyptes antipodes''), known also as hoiho or tarakaka, is a species of penguin endemic to New Zealand. Previously thought closely related to the little penguin (''Eudyptula minor''), molecular research has shown it ...

s. All three offer public tours of the respective wildlife colonies. Wellers Rock wharf, just south of Harington Point, is the base for boat cruises and tours exploring the sea and bird life in the area.

History

Wellers Rock

Wellers Rock (officially ungrammatically spelt without a concluding apostrophe), also known as Te Umukuri or Te Umu Kuri, is located between Harington Point and

Otakou Otakou ( mi, Ōtākou ) is a settlement within the boundaries of the city of Dunedin, New Zealand. It is located 25 kilometres from the city centre at the eastern end of Otago Peninsula, close to the entrance of Otago Harbour. Though a small f ...

at . It is named in honour of the

Weller Brothers The Weller brothers, Englishmen of Sydney, Australia, and Otago, New Zealand, were the founders of a whaling station on Otago Harbour and New Zealand's most substantial merchant traders in the 1830s. Immigration The brothers, Joseph Brooks (1802� ...

, a family of whalers who formed one of the first permanent European settlements in the southern South Island. The Wellers operated three stations within

, the most important of which was the Otakou station, located near Harington Point. One of the largest shore whaling stations in New Zealand at the time, it operated from 1831 to 1841. An archaeological excavation of part of the site was carried out by the

University of Otago , image_name = University of Otago Registry Building2.jpg , image_size = , caption = University clock tower , motto = la, Sapere aude , mottoeng = Dare to be wise , established = 1869; 152 years ago , type = Public research collegiate u ...

in 1991. In January 2020 Te Runanga o Otakou, the

Dunedin City Council The Dunedin City Council ( mi, Kaunihera ā-Rohe o Ōtepoti) is the local government authority for Dunedin in New Zealand. It is a territorial authority elected to represent the people of Dunedin. Since October 2022, the Mayor of Dunedin is Jules ...

, and the

Department of Conservation An environmental ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for the environment and/or natural resources. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of the Environment ...

joined forces in a project to protect the site from degradation.

Gun emplacements

The hills behind Harington Point contain several abandoned

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

gun emplacements, a subterranean communications tunnel and bunker, which were all part of the

coastal fortifications of New Zealand Coastal fortifications were constructed in New Zealand in two main waves: around 1885 as a response to fears of an attack by Russia, and in World War II due to fears of invasion by the Japanese. The fortifications were built from British designs ...

Demographics

Statistics New Zealand describes

and Harington Point as a rural settlement which covers , and is part of the much larger Otago Peninsula statistical area.

References

{{Dunedin suburbs Populated places in Otago Otago Peninsula Forts in New Zealand Suburbs of Dunedin