Mission Bay

A sandy urban beach close to central Auckland, easily reached by a regular service or on the Explorer Bus. Safe swimming is combined with sweeping harbour views. Rollerblades, bicycles, sailboards and small catamarans are available for hire during the summer months.
On the foreshore there is an historic Melanesian Mission building constructed of basalt from Rangitoto Island and dating from 1859, the designer being an early Auckland politician named Reader Wood, who was connected with the Selwyn Missions.
Named St Andrews, the mission was for the education of boys from Melanesia under an Anglican system, later converting to training school for the navy, and trades, and then to a private flying school in the early days of aviation. Anglican services and Sunday School were held here until the 1920s. The site also includes former stone walled gardens which date to the earliest days of the Mission.
The stone building fell into the hospitality trade in the 20th century, leased out by Heritage NZ after it didn't work out as a museum. A large modern addition has created what is known as Mission Bay Pavillion. The two buildings are linked, an unusual deviation from the usual treatment of Category One Historic Places.
The 'park' part of Mission Bay is named the Selwyn Reserve, and does cover much of the former Mission grounds. Many Aucklanders will have fond memories of summer picnics at Mission Bay, and it remains a popular destination for sunseekers in good weather. Nearby Kohimarama beach is slightly quieter and less commercial.
The much photographed fountain is named the 1950 Trevor Davis Memorial fountain. It is not designed for swimming, but in very hot summers some bathers take to the fountain even though the sea is a stone's throw away. At other times pranksters are known to have altered the colour of the water using dyes, both these activities frustrating the Council. A control panel near the fountain provides visitors with full information about the Bays' history.
A wire sculpture in the landscape here is named Manurewa, and it is by Fred Graham. Installed in 2007, it celebrates New Zealand's aeronautical history, particularly the Walsh Flying School which was based here. Manurewa is also the name of a Manukau suburb but in this context it means, literally translated, flying bird.
Tamaki Drive at Mission Bay has a stretch of bars and restaurants that both during the week and especially at weekends brings people from all over Auckland to this family and visitor friendly seaside location. Most cafes and restaurants have an outdoor area with café tables on the footpath or upstairs on the balconies - great places to sit and people watch. The choices of food here covers nearly all bases, ranging from the reliable Fish and Chips, to be eaten in the park, to mid priced pastas and pizza to white tablecloths and fine wine.

An Art Deco Cinema, done up to the nines, provides after dinner entertainment and joins company with a few other Art Deco buildings. A proposed rejuvenation of of the urban fabric incorporating apartments and townhouses references these Art Deco designs.

Mission Bay has a namesake in San Diego, California, which also has sandy beaches and a church-based history, but on a rather larger, Californian scale.

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