Porirua Harbour is a natural inlet in the southestern coast of the North Island of New Zealand. The city of Porirua, one of the four cities that comprise the Wellington conurbation, is situated on its edge. The city centre is to the south of the harbour. North Island The North Island is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, the other being the South Island. ... Porirua is a city in New Zealand, 20 km north of Wellington. ... Wellington (Te Whanganui-a-Tara or Poneke in Māori) is the capital of New Zealand, the countrys second largest urban area and the most populous national capital in Oceania. ...

The harbour has a narrow entrance only a few hundred metres in width, close to the suburb of Plimmerton. Beyond this, it opens up into two lobes, one to the south and one to the northeast (the latter being known as Pauatahanui Inlet). Each lobe is around three kilometres in length. The township of Plimmerton surrounds one of the more congenial beaches in the northwest part of the Wellington urban area in New Zealand. ... Pauatahanui is a small town located at the far eastern end of the Pauatahanui Inlet, an arm of the Porirua Harbour. ...

Pauatahanui Inlet is the sole remaining estuarine wetland in the lower North Island, and the Pauatahanui Wildlife Reserve has been established and work has been undertaken to protect the Inlet's environment and to restore damaged areas. Estuaries and coastal waters are among the most productive ecosystems on Earth, providing numerous ecological, economic, cultural, and aesthetic benefits and services. ... A subtropical wetland in Florida, USA, with an endangered American Crocodile. ...

Part of the southern arm of Porirua Harbour was reclaimed for a causeway for the North Island Main Trunk Railway. The construction of this causeway created three shallow lagoons from the Harbour. When State Highway 1 was re-aligned in the 1970s to run directly alongside the railway, these lagoons were partially filled in. One, Aotea Lagoon, was saved as a recreational area. The North Island Main Trunk Railway (NIMT) is the railway line connecting Auckland and Wellington, the two major cities of New Zealands North Island. ... State Highway 1 State Highway 1 is the most significant single element of the New Zealand roading network State Highway 1 can be considered as a single highway running the length of both main islands, a total of 2027 km. ... Aotea Lagoon is a lagoon located just north of the Porirua city centre in New Zealands North Island. ...

External links

• Guardians of Pauatahanui Inlet's official page
• Pauatahanui Wildlife Reserve information page

Coordinates: 41°05′S 174°51′E Map of Earth showing lines of latitude (horizontally) and longitude (vertically), Eckert VI projection; large version (pdf, 1. ...