Oriental Bay
Oriental Bay is a bay and suburb of Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand. Noted for being both a popular beach and a luxurious centre of affluence in the city, it is located close to the Central Business District on Wellington Harbour. It has the closest beach to the central city and is thus a common destination for locals, who swarm here especially in the warmer months (December to March). Painted ladies and other historic houses, such as those in distinctly Wellingtonian streamline moderne style, are prominent alongside and up into the hills that face the bay. Situated against the northern slope of Mount Victoria, the suburb lies 1.5 kilometres southeast of the city centre, at the start of a coastal route which continues around into Evans Bay. Oriental Bay was originally named Duppa Bay, after its sole original resident George Duppa, but in 1843 he renamed it after one the Oriental, one of the first ships to bring settlers to Wellington. Originally described as a remote "dreary-looking spot" of rocks lying between cliffs and the sea used primarily for quarantining foreigners, it has undergone considerable renovation since colonisation's early stages. Many landmarks were built over the 20th century, such as the grand streamlined moderne houses like the Olympus building and the Anscombe Apartments, and the modernist Freyberg Pool built in the 1960s (which juts out onto the harbour and is named about Lord Freyberg, who adored the beach as a young man). However, the beach's greatest renovation came in 2004, when 22,000 tonnes of sand was shipped especially from Golden Bay to rebuild the beach, which had become worn down over many years. In the summer months, Oriental Bay becomes a hive of activity. The beach seems covered with swimmers, party goers and families. The Carter Fountain is a distinctive feature in the bay, as is the wooden pontoon which is often covered in swimmers. A small section of the bay that lies beside Freyberg Pool is known as Freyberg Beach, after Lord Freyberg. History 19th century Oriental Bay was originally known as Duppa, after the first and only resident at the time, George Duppa who later renamed the area Oriental Bay after the ship that he arrived in New Zealand on in 1840. The area was originally farm land and was used as a quarantine with a nurse and tent on the beach and by whalers, which resulted in a pungent odour from the boiled whale blubber. David Wilkinson from Ayrshire, Scotland, was an early Wellington resident and gardener who lived at Grass Street, Oriental Bay in a house named Roseneath Cottage. He opened Wilkinson's Tea Gardens at the bay in 1850. The tea gardens was a fashionable place to visit for many years until it closed in the early 20th century. Visitors would walk along the waterfront to enjoy tea and music in the tea rooms, wander around the garden and take away a posy of flowers. The 'Roseneath Estate' began to be developed in 1886