Ngaio, New Zealand
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Suburb: | Ngaio |
| City: | Wellington |
| Island: | North Island |
| Surrounded by: | |
| to the north | Mt Kaukau |
| to the east | Khandallah, Te Kainga |
| to the south | Kaiwharawhara, Wadestown |
| to the west | Crofton Downs |
Ngaio is an inner suburb of Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand. It is situated on the slopes of Mt. Kaukau, 3500 metres north of the city's CBD. It was settled at the same time as the neighbouring suburb of Khandallah, and like its neighbour many of its streets are named after places on the Indian subcontinent. Ngaio was originally a logging community.
Ngaio takes its name from a New Zealand native tree, the Ngaio.
Ngaio contains a Library, multi-purpose Town Hall, Pharmacy, Petrol station, Café, Plunket Rooms, and a variety of small shops. The Ngaio Union Church has modern buildings and serves the Baptist community, whilst the Anglican All Saints Church is on a nearby hill, its distinctive brick tower visible from most places in the suburb.
Near the All Saints Church is a public primary school. Ngaio School was established in 1908. It is co-educational and does not have a uniform. Its school song is Tūrangawaewae, Māori for "A Place to Stand".
Most of Ngaio's dwellings are large 1960s weatherboard houses, but there is a small section of railway cottages called the Tarikaka Settlement, these were sold of by the Railways in the late 80's. In the late 1990s, new subdivisions were built up the sides of Mt. Kaukau. The houses in these were typically constructed of stucco, and many of their inhabitants suffered in the leaky homes scandal in 2000.
The suburb is served by an electric commuter railway (Johnsonville Branch Line) which connects it to the central city and Johnsonville, and there are buses which pass though it on route to Khandallah.
