Worser Bay

WELLINGTON CITY SIGHTS AND COASTLINE GUIDED TOUR

Sister to next door Scorching Bay, Worser Bay is one of Wellington’s ‘summertime spots.’ If Scorching Bay is popular for swimming ‘on a good day’, Worser is for yachting in most weathers.

On the western inside of the Windy city’s harbour mouth, the sun is best here in the morning, wind is pretty good any time. Worser Bay is dressed with the usual skinny seaside road, smattering of Pohutukawa Trees, and twentieth century wooden homes in various states of repair.

A visitor might stop here to watch youngsters and a few oldsters taking to the water in yachts from optimist and sunburst upwards, or to watch the Cook Strait Ferries gliding past. Or maybe just to be one stop south of Scorching which can have a bit of hustle about it in summer.

The boating club has sailed strong and steady since it’s early days, running coaching and competition in all classes and attracting saltwater types who enjoy the unpredictable conditions and of course the camaraderie of sailing.
So why has such a pretty spot got a ‘Worser’ name? The reason is in the mood and temperament not only of the harbour but of an early harbour pilot who was stationed here and would always forecast the weather as ‘getting worser.’ The bay remained a station for the harbourmasters office from the 1860s until the 1930s.

Another popular resident here would be the surf lifesaving club (1910) which, in Australian style, trains the youngsters from nearby Seatoun town and others from across Wellington. The club is known for it’s resilient and competitive attitude and also boasts a proudly functional hall used by the community. A community primary school sits on the hill above.

Worser Bay’s tragic claim to fame is that it shared, with Korohiwa Bay on the other side of the harbour, the victims and survivors as they floated ashore from the wreck of the Wahine Ferryboat which sank off nearby Barrett Reef in 1968. Listen to the harrowing radio broadcast of the event.

WELLINGTON CITY SIGHTS AND COASTLINE GUIDED TOUR

Photograph - Alan Wylde Photographer - From the 2016 Exhibition - Beach Dwellers