FIND THESE STEPS – Oriental Terrace shoots off Oriental Parade at 212 The Parade, behind the public toilets visible from the waterfront. The steps begin at No 20 Oriental Terrace from the lower level, and the intersection of Hawker and Moeller Streets at the top level, beside Saint Gerards Catholic Church and Monastery.
The view from Oriental Terrace, with St Gerard’s Church on the right.
Whalers once boiled blubber on Oriental Parade, when it was known as Clyde Quay, but now it is a line of shops, historical and new residential buildings, and, fortunately, an expanse of sandy beach.
The Parade and the Terrace are named for The Oriental, a barque, one of the original ships carrying the new colonists to Wellington and arriving the last day of January, 1840.
So much happened in 1840 in New Zealand, and in Wellington, and a young queen was on the throne of England, and for her the new colonists named the hill above Oriental Parade, Mt Victoria.
A wonderful blog – the oriental terrace zigzag – gives the history of the zigzag.
The bus stop on Oriental Parade, steps to Oriental Terrace to the right.
Bit of a scruffy underside to St Gerard’s church.
At the Top of the stairs – looking down Hawker Street, toward Marjoribanks Street; Moeller Street intersects at the left. The succession of step streets are on the left going down the hill – Kennedy, McIntyre, Doctors Common, Vogel.
The not-very-flash entrance to Oriental Terrace zig-zag, from Hawker Street.
Wellington Steps 