The suburb has numerous green spaces, most obvious of which is Ōhinerau / Mount Hobson – a volcanic cone with views from the top overlooking Waitematā Harbour and Rangitoto.

The suburb extends from Hobson Bay and the Ōrākei Basin on the Waitematā Harbour to the north and east, to the main thoroughfare of State Highway 1 in the southwest.

It is surrounded by the suburbs of Ōrākei, Meadowbank, Saint Johns, Mount Wellington, Ellerslie, Greenlane, Epsom, Newmarket and Parnell.

Remuera has been home to many well-known New Zealanders, including the late Sir Edmund Hillary and the race car driver Bruce McLaren.

[3] The area was attractive to Tāmaki Māori as much of the Auckland isthmus was devoid of trees and covered only in native flax, bracken and scrub.

Remuera was different, having patches of woodland which were the habitat of many birds suitable for trapping while the adjacent harbour and basins were good fishing areas.

Remuera Road was firstly a walking track, connecting the eastern and northern sections of the Auckland isthmus.

The palm fern-tree was there with its crown of graceful bending fronds and black feathery-looking young shoots; and the karaka, with its brilliantly-polished green leaves and golden-yellow fruit, contrasting with the darker crimped and varnished leaf of the puriri, with its bright cherrylike berry.

[5][6][7] Remu-wera literally translates to "burnt edge of kilt", commemorating the occasion where a chieftainess of Hauraki was allegedly captured and consumed.

Governor Robert FitzRoy visited the festivities on 11 May 1844 when a haka was performed by 1,600 Māori, armed with guns and tomahawks.

[11] When the European settlers wanted to buy the land on the Tāmaki isthmus from the Māori, they first declined.

[12] One of the early farmer-settlers who bought land at Remuera was Archibald Clark, who became Auckland's first mayor in 1851.

Likewise one of the most important routes for the electric tram system created in 1902 was to the Remuera shops, with an extension to the bottom of Victoria Avenue.

J. Dempsey said that Auckland had received "the brightest jewel in her crown today", although a subsequent report by the city engineer pointed out that Remuera had not been surveyed, it had 60 miles of primitive roading, and lacked proper stormwater drainage, sewerage and other services.

[15] The first mile of Remuera Road was concreted in 1921, and the existing tram line was doubled in 1924, followed by an extension of the service to Meadowbank.

In 1919 however local residents were incensed by the council's building of public toilets at the Remuera shops that they demanded be torn down.

[16][17] A year later in 1928, the Tudor Theatre cinema and dance hall opened, becoming a central part of Remuera social life for decades.

[18] In more recent history, the infamous Bassett Road machine gun murders took place in Remuera on 7 December 1963.

Two men were shot with a .45 calibre Reising submachine gun at 115 Bassett Road and word quickly spread about a "Chicago-style" gang murder.

The Ōrākei Basin, a tidal lagoon popular for water sport activities, is the submerged crater of a volcano.

[41] Mount Hobson Domain includes the volcanic cone, previously used as a pā (a defended settlement) by the Māori and in later times as a quarry and pasture land.

Still evident on the south-east side of the mountain is the concrete base remnant of a WWII medical store for the US Navy Mobile Hospital in nearby Market Rd – a site now occupied by the Dilworth Junior School.

As you walk up the path from the entrance, you will soon come to a stone seat – a memorial to Remuera boys who died in WWII.

On several 19th century maps this was shown as a lake and referred to as 'Lake Remuera', 'Lake St John' or 'Lake Waiatarua' although in reality it was largely an area of swampy ground in which a sheet of shallow water would appear sporadically in the wet season.

[46][47][48] Baradene College of the Sacred Heart is a state integrated Catholic girls' secondary school (years 7–13) with a roll of 1,452.

In fact on several 19th century maps this was actually shown as a lake and referred to as 'Lake Remuera' or 'Lake St John' although in reality it was largely an area of swampy ground in which a sheet of shallow water would appear sporadically in the wet season.

[43] Remuera's reputation as a desirable residential area around the turn of the 20th century was reflected in the use of its name for a luxury liner.

After the war she returned to the UK to New Zealand route, as a sign of the changing times she was now refitted to accommodate two classes of passengers as opposed to her initial layout of First, Second and Steerage.