Mechanics Bay the bordering headlands. Closest to Point Britomart was Official Bay, so called because many government officials lived there during the 1840s. Almost contiguous with Official Bay was Mechanics Bay. It took its name from its use in housing the labour force the government had brought to construct the new capital. Mechanics Bay contained the mouth of the stream issuing from the springs in the Auckland Domain to the south. The Bay had a broad, flat beach where Māori had long been in the habit of beaching their waka (canoes). Next to Mechanics Bay was St Georges Bay and then Judges
Admiralty Bay (New Zealand) to the waters of Cook Strait, but to the west a narrow and treacherous stretch of water French Pass is the only maritime access. The Bay was named in March 1770 by Lieutenant James Cook during his first voyage to the Pacific. Having completed a circumnavigation of New Zealand aboard "HMS Endeavour", Cook had the ship anchored in the bay for resupply with wood and water, and remained there from 27–31 March 1770. Cook described the land surrounding the bay as "of a very hilly uneven surface and appears to be mostly covered with wood, shrubs, firns & c. which