Other formats

    TEI XML file   ePub eBook file  

Connect

    mail icontwitter iconBlogspot iconrss icon

Tales of Banks Peninsula

Inside Akaroa Harbour

Inside Akaroa Harbour.

Akaroa is a corruption of Whangaroa, or Wangaloa. It was commonly called Wangaloa until 1840. After that date it became anglicized, and gradually settled down into its present form.

German Bay was so called because, when the Comte de Paris arrived with a number of French and German immigrants, nearly all the Germans chose this bay for their residence

Robinson's Bay took its name from Mr C. B. Robinson, the first English magistrate in Akaroa, who bought the first section there.

Duvauchelle's Bay was so called after the two brothers Duvauchelle, who held a couple of sections there under the Nanto Bordelaise Company, though they never lived there

Barry's Bay (Kaituna)—This bay was so called after William Barry, who was a shepherd for Messrs Greenwood Bros., of Purau, and later for the Rhodss [sic]. He was on the Peninsula in the early forties at Purau. It does not seem clear why this bay should have been called after him Mr Rowley was the first man to acquire any land there, and he bought a fifty acre section there in 1850 from the New Zealand Lend Company. The bay was called Kaituna by the Maoris, who bad a regular track over from Little River, and used to pay periodical visits to get flounders there. Mr V. V. Maeefield, who was living in this bay in 1860, said the Maoris at that time still used the old track, and came on fishing expeditions.

page 376

French Farm received its name from the fact that when Commodore Lavaud in charge of the French frigate L'Aube first came to the Peninsula be made a garden there for the crew, and stationed 15 or 16 of the sailors there under a quarter master to look after the garden.

Red House Bay is the name given to the Bay beyond Green's Point in Akaroa where the monument was erected to commemorate the taking possession in 1840. The bay got its name from a red building which was there for many years, and was destroyed by fire.

Takapuneke also means Red House or Pa, and was the name given to the bay in which the chief Te Mai Hara Nui lived This bay is close to Wainui, and where the great Ngai Tahu chief waa captured and taken on board the brig Elizabeth and carried up to Kapiti, the stronghold of Ruaparaha The name was given to the pah because the roof was thatched with red flax.

Brough's and Lucas Bays were so called after the early settlers, Brough Bros, and William Lucas. The latter is best remembered by his generous endowment to St, Peter's Church, Akaroa.

Dan Rogers is the name given to the magnificent cavern and cliffs towering above the harbour near the north head of Akaroa Harbour. It is frequently said that Dan Rogers was a pirate here in the early days, and the cliff got its name from the fact that the wicked pirate jumped off there into the sea. This story is quite incorrect, and the name of the cliff should strictly speaking be called Mrs Dan Rogers. It appears that Dan Rogers was the owner of an hotel in Sydney much patronized by whalers, and he also had a wife of very uncertain temper. When her feelings became too much for her Mrs. Rogers was in the habit of striding up and down in front of the house with a certain skirt much displayed. The thirstiest whalers coming to Dan Rogers' for a drink beat a retreat at the sight of Mrs. Rogers in her fighting kirtle. When the whalers made Akaroa Harbour in their sailing craft there was one wind—the north-east—against which they could not beat up the harbour, and when the wind was prevalent page 377there was a white frill round the cliff which reminded the sailors of Mrs. Dan Rogers' skirt. The spray on this cliff being a warning sign that no entry could be made into the harbour, the cliff was commonly designated Mrs. Dan Rogers. Billy Simpson gave the above account of the origin of the name to Mr. W. D. Wilkins. On different occasions he varied the story slightly by saying that when the waves were dashing up along these cliffs, the sailormen were chary about giving up their spree and going out; of the harbour, as the weather would be dirty. The old whaler was always firm about the cliff being called after Mrs. Dan Rogers, and that is the story accepted by old settlers.

Green's Point, where the monument is erected to commemorate the hoisting of the Union Jack on August 11, 1840, receives its name from William Green, the owner of an accommodation house, which stood where Mrs Buckland's residence now is. This Green was also in charge of Mr. W. B. Rhodes's cattle, the first cattle landed here, and frequent mention is made of him in the foregoing pages of this work.

Children's Bay is so called as a translation of the French name given on the early charts, "Ruisseau des enfants." It is the small bay immediately below Mr V. V. Masefield's residence in Akaroa.

French Bay is the name given to the small bight about which the Akaroa borough is formed. It is so called from the settlement of the French in the early days.

Lushington's, the point between Akaroa and German Bay, received its name from the mode of life in the saw-milling days, Every Saturday afternoon boats would come into Akaroa with as big a load of timber as could be got from the mills round the harbour, and the spree at the hotels would last well into Sunday. The men usually carried back a supply of grog in the empty boats, but they never got past this point with it. Lushington's is the only point thereabouts where water is obtainable, and the boats used to be pulled in there, and the lushing, or drinking, was carried on till all the grog was gone, From this fact page 378the bay received the name of LusLington.