sherlocknet:tag=forty

This is Wellington Harbour, then called Port Nicholson, as a glance at any modern map will prove. It is from an imaginary viewpoint high over Cook Strait, looking north. There are ships in the harbour but no signs of settlement. The first British settlers arrived in 1840. There were only Maori settlements near the mouth of the river at the far side of the bay and on the left side of the bay when they arrived. As there is a broad strip of land between the mainland, left, and the former island of Miramar lower centre-left this looks to have been made after the 1855 8.2 Wairarapa earthquake. That raised much of the region, in Wellington by only 1-2 metres, but in the region beyond the mountains top-right by up to 8 metres. That connecting strip of land is now mostly Wellington Airport. The modern city of Wellington occupies the lower slopes of the left side of the picture and includes the suburbs of Miramar, where Sir Peter Jackson has his film studio. In the distance the Hutt River runs along the centre of the valley with two streams off to left and right. Today the river flows all down the left side of the valley and reaches the sea via the left hand stream. The Hutt Valley changed from swamp to arable land due to being raised by 2 metres in the quake. This appears to indicate that the valley tilted to the left side, where the faultline is, and the river changed course. The right hand stream remains unchanged. The Hutt Valley is now full of housing, the oldest settlements being near the broad shoreline that can be seen.

Reading "The Kate", now. Wonderful.

How I see the Gite