Surface elevation sea level Shore length 732 m | Surface area 5 ha (12 acres) Area 5 ha Outflow location Porirua Harbour Cities Papakowhai | |
Primary inflows Similar Lagoon, New Zealand Police Mu, Colonial Knob Walkway, Porirua Scenic Reserve, Stuart Park | ||
Train at aotea lagoon
Aotea Lagoon is an artificial lagoon surrounded by a 7-hectare (17-acre) public park in the Papakowhai suburb of Porirua, North Island, New Zealand. Aotea and two nearby lagoons were created as transport links were realigned from the natural coastline to land reclaimed from Porirua Harbour.
Contents
- Train at aotea lagoon
- Map of Aotea Lagoon Papakowhai Porirua 5024 New Zealand
- Aotea lagoon
- Hydrology
- History
- Facilities
- References
Map of Aotea Lagoon, Papakowhai, Porirua 5024, New Zealand
Aotea lagoon
Hydrology
The lagoon is 5 hectares (12 acres) of seawater, connected to Porirua Harbour by a culvert under the model windmill. Three stormwater drains empty into the lagoon, two in the east bank, the third in the south-east under the jetty.
The lagoon's "water body receives limited flushing and aeration" and "little can be done to improve water quality without extensive engineering works." Poor water quality means swimming is prohibited.
History
The North Island Main Trunk railway and State Highway 1 used to run round three bays between Porirua and Paremata. In 1961 the railway was realigned to a causeway built between headlands at the mouth of Porirua Stream, Gear Homestead, present day Thurso Grove and Forth Place. Cut off from the sea, the bays became lagoons. The lagoons were partly filled in, with material from the Ministry of Works and Development's local earthworks, then the highway was realigned inland of the railway.
The Ministry, Porirua City Council, Project Employment Programme and local service clubs turned the area around the middle lagoon into a public park, that opened as Aotea Lagoon in 1980. Originally leased from the Crown, the park was taken over by the City Council in 1994.
Facilities
The park's centrepiece is a path around the lagoon, the easiest of Porirua's top 12 walking and cycling tracks.
The Waitangirua Lions built a ¼ scale ridable miniature railway with an 833-metre (2,733 ft) loop track including two bridges and a tunnel. The train runs Sunday afternoon, weather permitting, from Pipitea Station south-west of the lagoon.
The park has lawns on three sides, some with barbecues. Other facilities from the north-east are adventure and toddlers' playgrounds, a duck pond crossed by boardwalk, an island reached by bridge and a Pétanque terrain. In the south-west corner are another duck pond, a fernery and a rose garden.
Most people visit Aotea Lagoon for exercise or relaxation while children enjoy the playgrounds, feeding the ducks, riding bicycles and the train.