Kōrero: Landscapes – overview

Wellington Harbour is hemmed in by hills of ancient greywacke, which makes up the mountainous backbone of the North Island. Christopher Aubrey’s 1889 watercolour shows the rapidly expanding city, about 50 years after Europeans started to settle there. The boundary between the hills and the harbour (upper left) marks the position of the Wellington Fault. The hills are rising, but the water-covered area is gradually subsiding.