Lyttelton 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 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 () 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. ==History==

Whakaraupō and the surrounding hills have a long history of Māori activity. The islands of Aua and Ōtamahua (now with the dual names of Aua / King Billy Island and Ōtamahua / Quail Island respectively) were important sources of resources for local Māori, despite being uninhabited. Ngāi Tahu and Ngāti Mamoe used the islands as a source of shellfish, birds eggs and flax, as well as stone for use in tools. Sandstone from Aua was used to help work other stones used by Māori, such as pounamu. The significance of Ōtamahua in this regard is recognised in its Māori name, which translates as the gathering place of eggs. The pā remained uninhabited from this point, until it was removed when Fort Jervois was built on the island in 1885–95. The island was also used for containing cases during the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic and later as a leper colony in 1918–25. This was joined in 1858 by the completion of a road to Sumner over Evans Pass, and in 1867 by the opening of the Lyttelton Rail Tunnel. The road tunnel between Lyttelton and Christchurch opened in 1964, after having been discussed for more than 100 years. The tunnel cost £2.7 million to build and was said to be among the most modern in the world. At 1944m long, it was then New Zealand's longest road tunnel. ==Lyttelton port==

In 1877 the Lyttelton Harbour Board (now Lyttelton Port Company) started building an inner harbour, From 1907 it was worked with turbine steamships and from 1933 it was named the "Steamer Express". Between 1958 and 1967, the port was so busy and prosperous that Kaiapoi, on the coast north of Christchurch, briefly reopened its closed port facilities for a decade, to allow smaller ships to bypass the congested Lyttelton wharves. In the 1970s the port was chosen as one of the main ports in the South Island to be dredged and upgraded for containerisation, with the container facility opening in 1977, the centenary of the initial opening. In 1988, the Port Companies Act created the Lyttelton Port Company, which took over the Port’s commercial role including the land, assets and facilities. Substantial quantities of South Island coal have been shipped from this port for the past 100 years. The port facilities have provided for LP gas and petrol for the past 50 years. Based on quantities of materials shipped in or out, it is the primary port for energy shipments in the South Island. A regular port of call for cruise ships, the port opened a new purpose built pier in November 2020, able to handle the largest modern ships. ==Geography==

Lyttelton Harbour / Whakaraupō was formed by erosion of the Banks Peninsula Volcano, which was active during the late Miocene from eruptive centres in both Lyttelton and Akaroa harbours. As the volcano eroded, the calderas formed by the eruptions were flooded, forming both of the main harbours on the Peninsula. The harbour shares a common entrance with adjacent Port Levy / Koukourarata about wide, between Awaroa / Godley Head and Baleine Point, with Te Piaka / Adderley Head set back slightly. The shipping channel has been dredged so the port can cope with larger container ships. The prevailing winds in Lyttelton Harbour are from the north-east and south-west. In strong northerly winds a heavy swell rolls up the harbour. ;Mechanics Bay : Mechanics Bay is where supplies for the Godley Head lighthouse were landed. ;Breeze Bay : ;Livingstone Bay : ;Otokitoki / Gollans Bay : This bay is below Evans Pass. Gollan was one of the surveyors of the harbour. ;Battery Point: ;Polhill's Bay : Which has been completely reclaimed for Cashin Quay. ;Sticking Point : This is where construction of the Sumner Road stopped when it encountered difficult rock. ;Officers Point : ;Erskine Bay : The Port of Lyttelton occupies this bay. ;Tapoa / Erskine Point : ;Magazine Bay: ;Motukauatiiti / Corsair Bay : A popular bay for swimming at. ;Motukauatirahi / Cass Bay : Thomas Cass was one of the surveyors of the harbour. ;Rāpaki Bay : ;Ōhinetahi / Governors Bay : A small town located on Banks Peninsula near the head of Lyttelton Harbour ;Kaitangata / Mansons Peninsula : ;Head of the Bay : ;Moepuku Point : ;Te Wharau / Charteris Bay : ;Hays Bay : ;Kaioruru / Church Bay : ;Pauaohinekotau Head : ;Te Waipapa / Diamond Harbour : ;Stoddard Point : ;Purau Bay : ;Inainatua / Pile Bay : ;Deep Gully Bay ;Te Pohue / Camp Bay : ;Waitata / Little Port Cooper : Formerly a whaling station and later a pilot station. Islands ;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 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. ;Ripapa Island : Also known as Ripa Island. About north of the island lies Parson Rock, a submerged rock pinnacle that is covered by about of water at low tide. The rock has been known by this name since the 1800s. ==Marine mammal sanctuary==

The endangered Hector's dolphin lives in the sea around Banks Peninsula, and is occasionally seen in Lyttelton Harbour. The Banks Peninsula Marine Mammal Sanctuary, New Zealand’s first for marine mammals, was created in 1988, to protect Hector’s dolphin from bycatch in set nets. It was expanded in 2020, with restrictions introduced on seismic surveying and seabed mining.stretches from the Jed River south to the Waitaki River, and extends 20 nautical miles out to sea, a total area of about 14,310 km2. In March 2024, round 9 of the 2023–24 SailGP championship was held in Lyttelton Harbour. The first race day was cancelled due to dolphins being seen on the race course, leading SailGP co-founder Russell Coutts to criticise the "extreme" and "restrictive" protocols. The Department of Conservation responded that SailGP held the event in the full knowledge that protecting the dolphins from the impact of boats would be paramount. Coutts later announced that SailGP would not return to Lyttelton. The Lyttelton Port Company says New Zealand fur seals are occasionally found in Lyttelton Harbour when foraging. Other species visiting the harbour include right whales, humpback whales, dusky dolphins and killer whales. == In popular culture ==

Paul Theroux described Lyttelton Harbour as "long and lovely, a safe anchorage" in The Happy Isles of Oceania. == Gallery ==