Island Bay
Perched right on the southern coast, Island Bay has long been home to two distinct fishing communities, Wellington’s small and tightly knit Italian community, and a number of Scottish fishing families (many from the Shetland Islands); all attracted by the proximity to Cook Strait and sheltered anchorage. It’s believed the Shetland Islanders, used to the challenging waters of the northern Atlantic and North Sea, showed the Italians how to fish the difficult waters of Cook Strait. Taputeranga Island, once a fortified pa, lies 500m offshore forming a natural breakwater for the sandy beach, making the area ideal for water-sports, picnics and building sand castles.
It still has some of the atmosphere of a small fishing village so it’s hardly surprising that Island Bay has recently become popular, because it’s sunny and has a good selection of older character properties (many with flat access).
Island Bay used to be a weekend or summer retreat for city dwellers, rather like Day’s Bay and parts of Seatoun, until the tramline opened in 1905, which was followed by intensive house building in the 1920s and then the subdivision of several farms and the old racetrack, which bordered Clyde Street. Many Island Bay street names recall European rivers: Avon, Volga, Clyde, Rhine, Seine and Severn (pronounced ‘Seven’).
The shopping centre reflects the suburb’s increasing sophistication: the independently owned Island Bay Butchery with its famous sausages, the recently restored Empire Cinema, plus several restaurants and cafés. Watch out for the Buddhist monastery on its western hills, with its highly visible statue of the golden Stupa; plus the spire of St Frances de Sales church, designed to resemble a ship’s prow in recognition of Island Bay’s historical links to the fishing industry.
Island Bay’s also home to the finest chapel in the country: Erskine’s ‘Chapel of the Sacred Heart’ in Avon Street, designed by John Sydney Swan in French Gothic style, completed in 1930 and now ranked category 1 by New Zealand's Historic Places Trust. Erskine College (formerly Sacré Coeur, an exclusive convent school run by an international French order of nuns) closed in 1985; the building was subsequently used in Peter Jackson’s ‘The Frighteners’.
Across the valley, Suzanne Aubert founded the Home of Compassion in 1908; she was a French nun who came to NZ in 1861 and studied native plant remedies for use on Wellington’s incurables. She’s tipped to become New Zealand’s first saint, with the Roman Catholic Church actively reviewing her life and achievements. The Home of Compassion closed in 2002.
The nearby Red Rocks at Owhiro Bay are the result of undersea volcanic activity; it’s a good coastal walk, which includes a fur seal colony and is best seen in the winter.
The decommissioned frigate HMNZS Wellington was sunk to the east of Taputeranga Island to become an artificial reef and diving destination.
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View from Island Bay Beach |