Lyttelton Harbour

Inlet on Banks Peninsula, New Zealand

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Lyttelton Harbour / Whakaraupō is a major inlet on the northwest side of Banks Peninsula, on the coast of Canterbury, New Zealand; the other major inlet is Akaroa Harbour, which enters from the southern side of the peninsula. Whakaraupō enters from the northern coast of the peninsula, heading in a predominantly westerly direction for approximately from its mouth to the aptly named Head of the Bay near Teddington. The harbour sits in an eroded caldera of the ancient Banks Peninsula Volcano, the steep sides of which form the Port Hills on its northern shore. The harbour's main population centre is Lyttelton, which serves the main port to the nearby city of Christchurch, linked with Christchurch by the single track Lyttelton rail tunnel (opened 1867), a two lane road tunnel (opened 1964) and two roads over the Port Hills. Diamond Harbour lies to the south and the Māori village of Te Rāpaki o Te Rakiwhakaputa to the west. At the head of the harbour is the settlement of Governors Bay. The reserve of Otamahua / Quail Island is near the harbour head and Ripapa Island is just off its south shore at the entrance to Purau Bay. The harbour provides access to a busy commercial port at Lyttelton which today includes a petroleum storage facility and a modern container and cargo terminal. Hector's dolphins, a species endemic to New Zealand, and New Zealand fur seals live in the harbour.

Lyttelton Harbour / Whakaraupō is one of many places in New Zealand to have a dual place name, consisting of names derived from both European and Māori names for the area. The harbour was one of approximately 90 places to be given a dual name as part of a landmark Treaty of Waitangi settlement with the Ngāi Tahu iwi in 1998. Whakaraupō translates as Bay/harbour of [[Typha orientalis in the South Island dialect of Māori. Earlier sources give the Māori name as Whangaraupo, which has identical meaning to Whakaraupō, but uses the wider Māori spelling (whanga) of the word for harbour. The French spelling of Whakaraupo was Tapalabo. This was the name used in a chart published in 1840 from the surveys of 1838 by M. M Fournier and d'Ubraye on the Heroine captained by J B Cecille. Captain Stokes of HMS Acheron, who led a survey of the harbour and surrounding lands in 1849, preferred to use the name Wakaraupo Bay to the then current English name of Port Cooper. However, Stokes' preferred name was not used when the harbour was officially renamed Port Victoria upon it becoming a Port of Entry in August 1849. The New Zealand Pilot of 1875, which is based on Stokes' survey, gives the Māori place name as Tewhaka, translating simply as 'the harbour'. The first widespread name for the harbour was Port Cooper, after Daniel Cooper. This name was in common usage by the mid 1840s and was used as a brand name for farm produce from Banks Peninsula and the Dean's farm on the Canterbury Plains. The name Port Cooper was officially changed to Port Victoria (after Queen Victoria) in 1849, when the harbour became a Port of Entry. Despite the name change and the use of Port Victoria on maps from the Canterbury Association, Port Cooper continued to see use as a name for some time. Charlotte Godley still refers to Port Cooper in her 1850 letters, while an 1867 immigrant also used the name when publishing his memoirs in 1928. In 1858, the harbour's name changed again, this time to Lyttelton Harbour. This coincided with the naming of the town of Lyttelton on the harbour's north shore in honour of George William Lyttelton and the Lyttelton family. Exactly when the harbour came to be known as Lyttelton Harbour is unclear, as the name appears to have been in use for almost a decade prior to the name change. The name appears in an 1849 admiralty chart, while in 1853 John Robert Godley is reported using this name in a speech to the Canterbury Association. In the early 1860s, The Canterbury Provincial Council established a Lyttelton Harbour Commission, and in 1877 the Lyttelton Harbour Board came into existence, after the Provinces were abolished. This name was used until the adoption of the dual name in 1998.

Aua / King Billy Island Aua / King Billy Island is a small island between Otamahua / Quail Island and the adjacent headland of Moepuku Point. In the past it has also been called Little Quail Island. Ōtamahua / Quail Island The Māori name Ōtamahua means eggs of the sea fowl. It was named Quail Island after an 1842 incident when Captain William Mein Smith flushed some native quail while out walking here to complete a sketch he was drawing of the island. Kamautaurua Island Kamautaurua Island was previously known as Kamautaurua or Shag Reef. In December 1862, the cutter Dolphin capsized and wrecked on the reef into an unfavourable wind and tide when returning from further up the harbour with a load of lime.