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
Big Bay (New Zealand) Big Bay (New Zealand) Big Bay, also known as Awarua Bay, is a deep indentation in the southwestern coast of New Zealand's South Island, 40 kilometres north of Milford Sound and immediately to the north of Martins Bay. The bay is eight kilometres in width, and extends eight kilometres into the South Island, making an almost square indentation in the island's coastline. Its northern end is Awarua Point. Immediately beyond Long Reef, the rocky point at the southern end, is the mouth of the Hollyford River and Martins Bay. Big Bay has a sandy beach named Three Mile Beach. The