Orakei

Orakei (Māori: Ōrākei) is a suburb of Auckland city, in the North Island of New Zealand. It is located on a peninsula five kilometres to the east of the city centre, on the shore of the Waitemata Harbour, which lies to the north, and Hobson Bay and Orakei Basin, two arms of the Waitemata, which lie to the west and south. To the east is the suburb of Mission Bay. The mouth of the Waitemata is to the immediate north of Orakei, lying between Bastion Point, in Orakei, and North Head, in Devonport on the North Shore.

Orakei
Suburb
View of Hobson Bay looking northwards with Orakei visible in the far right distance, under Rangitoto Island
Orakei
Coordinates: 36°51′11″S 174°48′41″E
Country	New Zealand
Local authority	Auckland Council
Electoral ward	Ōrākei
Local board	Ōrākei
Population  (2013)
• Total	5,493
Train station(s)	Orakei Train Station

(Waitemata Harbour)	(Hauraki Gulf)	Mission Bay
Parnell	Orakei	Mission Bay
Remuera	Remuera	Kohimarama, Meadowbank

The New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage gives a translation of "place of adornment" for Ōrākei.[1]

Orakei North, which is the census area corresponding to this suburb, had a population of 5,493 at the 2013 New Zealand census, an increase of 117 people since the 2006 census. There were 2,580 males and 2,916 females. Figures have been rounded and may not add up to totals.[2] 75.6% were European/Pākehā, 14.5% were Māori, 6.1% were Pacific peoples and 10.5% were Asian.[3]

The suburb achieved national attention in 1977 when Māori protestors occupied vacant land at Bastion Point. Land which had formerly belonged to the Ngāti Whātua iwi had been acquired cheaply for public works many decades before, and members of the tribe occupied the land demanding its return. The site was largely returned to the iwi after a long and not entirely bloodless occupation.

Orakei is home to some of Auckland's most expensive real estate. Paritai Drive in Orakei is generally regarded as the most expensive street in Auckland, and most probably New Zealand. House prices on this street start at $3m and range to $12m. The local secondary school is Selwyn College.

Bastion Point is the location of the Savage Memorial, the tomb and memorial garden for Michael Joseph Savage, the first Labour Party prime minister of New Zealand and one of the country's most popular prime ministers, who died in office in 1940. This magnificent Art Deco ensemble by Tibor Donner and Anthony Bartlett was officially opened in March 1943 and affords remarkable views of the Waitemata Harbour.