Although located about 200 km away from the epicentre of the 2016 Kaikōura Earthquake, the waterfront areas of Wellington City suffered varying degrees of damage as a result of soil liquefaction and associated ground deformations. This paper presents a summary of the major observations made following reconnaissance inspections of the geotechnical effects caused by the earthquake, with emphasis on the ground performance in the affected areas near the waterfront. Except for CentrePort, summarised elsewhere in this Special Issue, the inspections concentrated mostly on the waterfront areas and the impact to buildings built on reclaimed lands. Cracks and minor ground subsidence were observed in many parts of the waterfront, but the damage was less than that in CentrePort where significant liquefaction-induced damage was evident. The age of reclamation appears to have significant effect on the distribution of liquefaction-induced damage, while reclaimed areas where improvement techniques have been implemented performed well.