Akaroa and Banks Peninsula

Banks Peninsula is famous for its beautiful harbours, hidden bays, and inlets teeming with bird and sea-life. Its sparkling waters are home to a variety of sea life including the world's smallest and rarest dolphins, the Hector's dolphins as well as New Zealand fur seals, little blue penguins and a myriad of bird life. It is also home to a salmon and paua marine farm which you may see on a harbour cruise and the peninsula shoreline is home to the largest mainland white-flippered penguin colony.

State Highway 75, on route to Akaroa circuits the ancient lava fingers of Banks Peninsula's extinct volcano hills and passes New Zealand's two largest lowland lakes, the expansive 20,000 hectare lagoon of Lake Ellesmere (Te Waihora) and Lake Forsyth (Te Wairewa) which are home to over 100 species of local and migratory birds. 

Banks Peninsula cafés open onto the streets and harbour promenades, where locals and visitors enjoy the sun, wine, food, coffee and conversation. Boutique art and crafts shops and galleries are abuzz with visitors admiring and buying the local works of Banks Peninsula artists and craftspeople.

The Banks Peninsula has an area of around 1,000 km², and once covered by 98% forest, with the highest point being Mt Herbert at 919 metres. The population of Banks Peninsula is over 7000 which is 0.1% of the Canterbury regions population.

The first settlement on the Banks Peninsula was by the Waitaha, followed by the Kati Mamoe, then Ngai Tahu in the 17^th Century. James Cook and his crew of the Endeavour were the first European settlers on the Banks Peninsula in 1769. The Peninsula's name was given by James Cook after the botanist of the Endeavour, Joseph Banks.

Lyttelton is only 12 km by road from Christchurch linked by railway and road tunnels through the Port Hills. At 1.9 km long, the Lyttelton Road Tunnel (opened in 1964) is the country's longest road tunnel. The Lyttelton Timeball Station (1876) is one of a handful of timeball stations that have survived throughout the world, and the only original one still standing in New Zealand. Historic harbour defence works dating from 1874 onwards survive at Ripapa Island in Lyttelton Harbour and at Godley Head.

Akaroa is 82 kilometres by road from Christchurch, on State Highway 75. As from the year 1830, the Peninsula became a European whaling centre, the French settlement was known as Port Louis-Philipe; before 1840 it was also known as Wangaloa. From the 1850s, Lyttelton and then Christchurch outgrew Akaroa, which has developed into a holiday resort and retained many French influences as well as many of its nineteenth-century buildings. The name Akaroa is Maori for 'long harbour'.

The Banks Peninsula landform is the result of violent eruptions of three volcanoes millions of years ago. Akaroa Harbour, Lyttelton Harbour and the surrounding bays with their spectacular indented coastlines are the remaining legacies of the Earth's fury.  Captain Cook first sighted the peninsula in February 1769 and was chosen by early settlers because of its suitability as a port and proximity to the large area of flat land, the Canterbury Plains. Lyttelton was originally called Port Cooper and known as Te Whakaraupo (the harbour of the bull-rush reeds) to Maori. Overlooking the port, Lyttelton Timeball Station provided an invaluable service to early sea-captains. At 12 noon, the ball at the top of the tower dropped so ships could synchronise their chronometers. Today, Timeball Station continues the tradition with the ball dropping at 1pm daily.

En-route from Christchurch to Akaroa, throughout history Little River has been the 'Gateway to the Peninsula' - a crossroad of culture and a transportation hub for the surrounding area. The old railway line still feeds the character of the town with the Little River Rail Trail now a stunning biking and walking experience. The trail finishes at the restored railway station which houses the Craft Cooperative and Little River Visitor Information Centre featuring the heritage room.

Akaroa, was the region's first substantial European settlement and safe haven for early whalers and sealers working in the wild southern ocean beyond its striking headlands. The Ngai Tahu tribe had already discovered the beauty of the location well before the French settlers arrived in 1840. The character and names of the narrow streets still bear their French heritage - such as Rue Lavaud, the main street with many of the original cottages still standing.

This is a unique and captivating corner of New Zealand.