Mission Bay is a seaside suburb of
Auckland
Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...
city, on the
North Island
The North Island ( , 'the fish of Māui', historically New Ulster) is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but less populous South Island by Cook Strait. With an area of , it is the List ...
of New Zealand. The suburb's beach is a popular resort, located alongside
Tamaki Drive.
The area also has a wide range of eateries. Mission Bay is located seven kilometres to the east of the city centre, and east of the
Waitematā Harbour
The Waitematā Harbour is the main access by sea to Auckland, New Zealand. The harbour forms the northern and eastern coasts of the Auckland isthmus and is crossed by the Auckland Harbour Bridge. It is matched on the southern side of the city ...
, between
Ōrākei and
Kohimarama. It covers an area of 1.08 km2 (267 acres), about three quarters of which comprises low hills, surrounding the remaining quarter, which slopes down to the sea. Local government of Mission Bay is the responsibility of the
Ōrākei Local Board
The Ōrākei Local Board is one of the 21 local boards of Auckland Council. It is coterminous with the Ōrākei ward. It was chaired in its first two terms by local politician Desley Simpson following the 2010 and 2013 elections. In the 20 ...
, which also includes the suburbs of
Ōrākei,
Kohimarama,
St Heliers,
Glendowie,
St Johns,
Meadowbank,
Remuera and
Ellerslie.
History
Mission Bay sits on three parcels of land comprising part of the Kohimarama block bought from the Crown in the early 1840s. The area used to be referred to as ‘Kohimarama’, a name now given to a neighbouring suburb
Kohimarama.
Present-day Mission Bay takes its name from the
Melanesian Mission, which was established by the Anglican Bishop
George Augustus Selwyn at the bay at the end of the 1840s. The school also known as St Andrew's College, was an Anglican institution set up to provide Melanesian boys with a Christian education.
[ Retrieved 2013-09-26.] The stone buildings, designed by Reader Wood, date from 1858 and are built of
scoria
Scoria or cinder is a pyroclastic, highly vesicular, dark-colored volcanic rock formed by ejection from a volcano as a molten blob and cooled in the air to form discrete grains called clasts.Neuendorf, K.K.E., J.P. Mehl, Jr., and J.A. Jackso ...
rock quarried on the volcanic island of
Rangitoto.
In the winter of 1860 the mission buildings were lent to the Governor,
Colonel Thomas Gore Browne, who organised the historic Kohimarama Conference.
The conference was attended by 200
rangatira from a large number of
iwi
Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori, roughly means or , and is often translated as "tribe". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, and is typically pluralised as such in English.
...
throughout New Zealand and aimed at convincing Māori leaders to reject the
Māori King Movement
Māori or Maori can refer to:
Relating to the Māori people
* Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group
* Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand
* Māori culture
* Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...
and justify the Government’s war in
Taranaki
Taranaki is a regions of New Zealand, region in the west of New Zealand's North Island. It is named after its main geographical feature, the stratovolcano Mount Taranaki, Taranaki Maunga, formerly known as Mount Egmont.
The main centre is the ...
, which had broken out over a disputed land transaction. The conference lasted a month. A wide range of issues were discussed. It gave southern Māori in particular an opportunity to gain a fuller understanding of the meaning of the treaty. In the last week Paora Tuarere (Ngati Whatua) proposed that the treaty should be endorsed by the conference as a "fuller ratification". Tuarere was one of the principal chiefs who gave and sold land to the government in Auckland on the
Auckland isthmus. Māori then affirmed the treaty thus reassuring the government that Māori would, in general, support the government rather than the new Māori king. The kingite Wiremu Tamahana attended the conference. The Kohimarama Conference is said to be unique, since it was the first time Māori had been given the opportunity to hold a
rūnanga with
Pākehā
''Pākehā'' (or ''Pakeha''; ; ) is a Māori language, Māori-language word used in English, particularly in New Zealand. It generally means a non-Polynesians, Polynesian New Zealanders, New Zealander or more specifically a European New Zeala ...
officials, which was a first step towards representation in the Government of New Zealand.
The Anglican Mission was transferred to
Norfolk Island
Norfolk Island ( , ; ) is an States and territories of Australia, external territory of Australia located in the Pacific Ocean between New Zealand and New Caledonia, directly east of Australia's Evans Head, New South Wales, Evans Head and a ...
in 1867, but St. Andrews College remained an educational institution, serving as a naval training school, industrial school, and institute for teaching work practices to ‘neglected’ boys.
Mission Bay, was the second location for the
Walsh Brothers New Zealand Flying School after moving from
Ōrākei in November 1915.
For many years they used the bay as a landing area for their
seaplanes
A seaplane is a powered fixed-wing aircraft capable of taking off and landing (alighting) on water.Gunston, "The Cambridge Aerospace Dictionary", 2009. Seaplanes are usually divided into two categories based on their technological characterist ...
. It is claimed that during this time they trained at least a third of the New Zealand’s pilots active during the First World War. Hence, Mission Bay was also known as ‘Flying School Bay’.
["Melanesian Mission Dining Hall" ](_blank)
Heritage New Zealand
Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga (initially the National Historic Places Trust and then, from 1963 to 2014, the New Zealand Historic Places Trust; in ) is a Crown entity that advocates for the protection of Archaeology of New Zealand, ancest ...
. Retrieved 2013-09-26. The school closed in 1924, after training over 1,000 pilots.
In 1928, the mission building became a museum, but was found to be unsuitable for the display of artefacts. It was taken over as a heritage property by
Heritage New Zealand
Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga (initially the National Historic Places Trust and then, from 1963 to 2014, the New Zealand Historic Places Trust; in ) is a Crown entity that advocates for the protection of Archaeology of New Zealand, ancest ...
in 1974 and the former St. Andrews College has since been leased out as a restaurant.
In 1919, the area started to be sub-divided with another subdivision of the lands held by the Melanesian Mission Trust occurring in 1925.
Economy
Retail
The waterfront Mission Bay Shopping Precinct has about 44 retailers, including a four-screen
Reading Cinema, with on-street parking.
Eastridge Shopping Centre, located on the upper side of the Mission Bay suburb, has 32 stores including a
New World
The term "New World" is used to describe the majority of lands of Earth's Western Hemisphere, particularly the Americas, and sometimes Oceania."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: ...
supermarket.
Landmarks and features
Trevor Moss Davis Memorial Fountain
This fountain is the centre piece of the Mission Bay Reserve. Trevor Moss Davis was director of the Auckland liquor firm Hancock and Company and died of a sudden heart attack in 1947 at the age of 45. His father Eliot Davis, nephew of
Sir Ernest Davis, Auckland mayor from 1935 to 1945, gifted a memorial fountain at Mission Bay to keep the memory of his son alive. The fountain was designed by architect George Tole and created by Richard Gross, it is constructed of Sicilian marble fluted to catch the light and decorated with three bronze sea monsters gushing water. The memorial is a landmark on the city’s waterfront, regularly sending dancing jets of water as high as 12 m (40 ft) in the air and at night it features a beautiful light show. During the summer young children use it as a paddling pool.
Parks
Selwyn Reserve - This is the open green space between
Tamaki Drive and Mission Bay Beach, often referred to as Mission Bay Reserve. It is named after the first Anglican bishop of New Zealand,
George Augustus Selwyn. The reserve and beach together are one of Auckland city’s most popular waterfront locations. During the summer months the reserve hosts music, arts and sports events.
Kepa Bush Reserve - In addition to Mission Bay’s prominence as a beach resort, the suburb is home to the
Kepa Bush Reserve, situated on the banks of Purewa Creek, which flows past
Ōrākei Basin into
Hobson Bay
Hobson Bay is a bay in the Auckland Region of New Zealand's North Island. It is located to the east of the Auckland City Centre, and is bisected by the Eastern Line (Auckland), Eastern Line and Tamaki Drive.
Description
Hobson Bay is a tidal ...
. The reserve is a pocket of native bush bustling with bird life during the day and serene with glow-worms in the gully near the main entrance at night. The reserve honours the memory of
Te Keepa Te Rangihiwinui, a Māori military commander and ally of the government forces during the
New Zealand Wars
The New Zealand Wars () took place from 1845 to 1872 between the Colony of New Zealand, New Zealand colonial government and allied Māori people, Māori on one side, and Māori and Māori-allied settlers on the other. Though the wars were initi ...
. He is also known as Te Keepa, Major Keepa or Major Kemp. During the land wars of the 1860s he fought for government forces against
Te Kooti and
Tītokowaru
Riwha Tītokowaru (born Riwha, 1823– 18 August 1888) was a Taranaki Māori rangatira, military commander, general and religious leader. He is considered to be one of the most capable and influential military strategists in New Zealand hist ...
.
Demographics
Mission Bay covers
and had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km
2.
Mission Bay had a population of 4,329 in the
2023 New Zealand census
The 2023 New Zealand census, which took place on 7 March 2023, was the thirty-fifth national census in New Zealand. It implemented measures that aimed to increase the Census' effectiveness in response to the issues faced with the 2018 census, i ...
, a decrease of 12 people (−0.3%) since the
2018 census, and an increase of 138 people (3.3%) since the
2013 census. There were 2,019 males, 2,292 females and 15 people of
other genders in 1,800 dwellings.
3.5% of people identified as
LGBTIQ+. The median age was 43.6 years (compared with 38.1 years nationally). There were 630 people (14.6%) aged under 15 years, 741 (17.1%) aged 15 to 29, 2,046 (47.3%) aged 30 to 64, and 912 (21.1%) aged 65 or older.
People could identify as more than one ethnicity. The results were 75.8%
European (
Pākehā
''Pākehā'' (or ''Pakeha''; ; ) is a Māori language, Māori-language word used in English, particularly in New Zealand. It generally means a non-Polynesians, Polynesian New Zealanders, New Zealander or more specifically a European New Zeala ...
); 5.5%
Māori; 2.6%
Pasifika; 20.0%
Asian; 4.2% Middle Eastern, Latin American and African New Zealanders (MELAA); and 1.9% other, which includes people giving their ethnicity as "New Zealander". English was spoken by 96.1%, Māori language by 1.0%, Samoan by 0.4%, and other languages by 25.3%. No language could be spoken by 1.5% (e.g. too young to talk).
New Zealand Sign Language was known by 0.2%. The percentage of people born overseas was 39.7, compared with 28.8% nationally.
Religious affiliations were 35.1%
Christian
A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...
, 1.7%
Hindu
Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...
, 1.2%
Islam
Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
, 0.2%
Māori religious beliefs, 1.5%
Buddhist
Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
, 0.2%
New Age
New Age is a range of Spirituality, spiritual or Religion, religious practices and beliefs that rapidly grew in Western world, Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclecticism, eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise d ...
, 0.5%
Jewish
Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
, and 1.0% other religions. People who answered that they had
no religion were 52.5%, and 6.0% of people did not answer the census question.
Of those at least 15 years old, 1,854 (50.1%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, 1,314 (35.5%) had a post-high school certificate or diploma, and 537 (14.5%) people exclusively held high school qualifications. The median income was $62,100, compared with $41,500 nationally. 1,113 people (30.1%) earned over $100,000 compared to 12.1% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 1,965 (53.1%) people were employed full-time, 522 (14.1%) were part-time, and 78 (2.1%) were unemployed.
Education
The local secondary schools are
Selwyn College and
Glendowie College,
Gallery
File:Rangitoto Island from Mission Bay - Flickr - 111 Emergency.jpg, View of Rangitoto from Mission Bay
File:Old Homestead House At Mission Bay.jpg, Melanesian Mission House
File:Looking West From Mission Bay Beach.jpg, View of Mission Bay Beach looking west
File:Mission Bay Fountain.jpg, Mission Bay Fountain
References
*''Colonial Architecture In New Zealand''. John Stacpoole. A.H & A.W Reed 1976
*''Decently And In Order, The Centennial History of the Auckland City Council''. G.W.A Bush. Collins 1971.
External links
Mission Bay Business AssociationNgāti Whātua ŌrākeiPhotographs of Mission Bayheld in
Auckland Council Libraries' heritage collections.
{{Ōrākei Local Board Area
Suburbs of Auckland
Bays of Auckland
Beaches of Auckland
Populated places around the Hauraki Gulf
Ōrākei Local Board Area