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Story: Coastal erosion

Oriental Bay

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Oriental Bay

Natural cycles of erosion and accretion have seen the beach at Wellington’s Oriental Bay change from rocky boulders to sand. This photograph shows the bay in the 1920s. A concrete sea wall was built to protect the promenade and road, but it also restricted the area of beach, especially at high tide. The beach was first re-nourished in 1944, when about 10,000 tonnes of sand were brought in to make the area more attractive.

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library, Dominion Post Collection (PA-Group-00685)

Reference: PAColl-8557-18

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Willem de Lange, Coastal erosion – People, houses, and managing erosion, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/6354/oriental-bay (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Willem de Lange, published 2 March 2009.