Mount Victoria 5.05

Mount Victoria is a prominent hill 196m high immediately to the east of central Wellington, New Zealand. About 4 kilometres due south is a spur named Mount Albert and the two are linked by a ridge. Mount Victoria's residential area is on its north-western slopes.HistoryMount Victoria's original Māori name is Tangi Te Keo, though Matairangi is also used. The first name derives from a legend in which two taniwha tried to escape from Wellington Harbour which was then an enclosed lake. One taniwha became stranded and died, and its spirit turned into a bird named Te Keo, which flew to the top of the mountain and mourned (tangi). The second name translates as "to examine the sky".It was settled as, at its foot, Wellington's Te Aro filled with commercial activities. Residents needed to be close to the city but wanted more comfortable surroundings. For a long time it was one of Wellington's sources of fresh milk from its dairy farms.Town beltMuch of Mount Victoria is part of the Wellington Town Belt, a series of park land originally granted to the city in 1873 for public recreation. The vegetation in the area is dominated by pines and macrocarpa planted in the “plantation years” from the late 1800s to early 1900s. The area features many tracks used for walking and mountain biking.The Mount Victoria Lookout is situated within the Town Belt, and offers panoramic views of the greater Wellington area. Not far to its east is the Mount Victoria Radio Tower, which was Wellington's main radio and television mast from 1927 until 1965, when the larger and more powerful Mount Kaukau transmitter opened.