Sunrise in Kohimarama, Auckland

“Kohimarama is a coastal residential Auckland City suburb, It is located seven kilometres to the east of the city centre, on the southern shore of the Waitemata Harbour. Present-day Mission Bay is built upon three parcels of land comprising part of the Kohimarama block that were bought from the Crown in the early 1840s. Most of the land subsequently passed into the hands of the Melanesian Mission, who sub-divided and sold it for building in the 1920s, at about which time the name ‘Mission Bay’ became commonly-used to describe the area. Before this the district was referred to by a number of names, most commonly ‘Kohimarama’, but also, later, as ‘Flying School Bay’.

Mission Bay takes its name from the Melanesian Mission, that was based in the bay. Some of the mission school buildings still stand in the reserve, an area of parkland adjacent to the beach. The buildings, designed by Reader Wood, date from 1858 and are built of scoria rock quarried on the volcanic island of Rangitoto. The Melanesian Mission School, also known as St Andrew’s College, was founded by Bishop George Augustus Selwyn for the education of Melanesian children.

Mission Bay Reserve also has a link to the history of early aviation in New Zealand. Just after the First World War the Walsh Brothers (Austin Leonard Walsh 1881 – 1951 and Vivian Claude Walsh 1887 – 1950) located their flying school here, and for many years they used the bay as a landing area for their seaplanes.”

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