Banks Peninsula
It has an area of approximately 1,200 square kilometres (450 sq mi)[1] and encompasses two large harbours and many smaller bays and coves.
Geologically, the peninsula comprises the eroded remnants of two large composite shield volcanoes[clarification needed] (Lyttelton formed first, then Akaroa), and the smaller Mt Herbert Volcanic Group.
[2] These formed due to intraplate volcanism between approximately eleven and eight million years ago (Miocene) on a continental crust.
The Canterbury Plains formed from the erosion of the Southern Alps (an extensive and high mountain range caused by the meeting of the Indo-Australian and Pacific tectonic plates) and from the alluvial fans created by large braided rivers.
A layer of loess, a rather unstable fine silt deposited by the foehn winds which bluster across the plains, covers the northern and western flanks of the peninsula.
The portion of crater rim lying between Lyttelton Harbour / Whakaraupō and Christchurch city forms the Port Hills.
[4] Distracted by a phantom sighting of land to the southeast, Cook then ordered Endeavour away to the south without exploring more closely.
In 1809, Captain Samuel Chase, in the sealer Pegasus, corrected Cook's charts by determining that "Banks Island" was in fact a peninsula.
In 1838 Captain Jean François Langlois, a French whaler, decided that Akaroa would make a good settlement to service whaling ships and made a provisional purchase of land in "the greater Banks Peninsula" from 12 Kāi Tahu chiefs.
On hearing of the French plan for colonisation, Hobson quickly dispatched HMS Britomart from the Bay of Islands to Akaroa with police magistrates on board.
[citation needed] From the 1850s, Lyttelton and then Christchurch outgrew Akaroa, which is now a holiday resort and cruise ship destination and has retained many French influences as well as many of its nineteenth-century buildings.
[citation needed] The Christchurch earthquakes of February 2011 and June 2011 had their epicentres in the Port Hills, significantly affecting communities.
Much of the construction was completed in the 1880s with more work carried out in the 1930s,[12] the road is in two[dubious – discuss] sections (both of which have views of the area, as well as parks, walkways, and other recreational features): Estimates suggest that native forest once covered 98% of the peninsula.
The Banks Peninsula Marine Mammal Sanctuary was expanded in 2020, with restrictions introduced on seismic surveying and seabed mining.
[17] The Rod Donald Banks Peninsula Trust plans to upgrade fencing and remove feral grazing animals.
[17] The Rod Donald Banks Peninsula Trust are also involved in developing Te Ara Pātaka, also known as the Summit Walkway.
[19] Banks Peninsula Ward of Christchurch City Council, which encompasses the area south of the Port Hills, covers 973.13 km2 (375.73 sq mi).
In Ngāi Tahu legend, Tuhiraki (Mt Bossu) which lies behind Wainui, is the resting place of the kō (digging stick) of Rakaihautū.
Within the harbour lies Ōtamahua / Quail Island and Ripapa Island.Port Levy is the most north facing of the bays on Banks Peninsula.
[28] Captain Langlois celebrated his "purchase" of Banks Peninsula on 9 August 1840 by raising the French flag and conducting a 101 gun salute at Pigeon Bay.
[28] HMS Britomart visited Pigeon Bay towards the end of August 1840 conducting the first hydrographic survey and reinforcing British sovereignty of Banks Peninsula.
[29] Feral goats have been a problem in Little Akaloa but a successful cull of them in early 2019 is helping eradication efforts on Banks Peninsula.
Goughs Bay was first referenced in 1858 when Elie Bauriaud, who originally arrived on the Comte de Paris, purchased land there.
[45] Home to a Ngāti Māmoe pā (known as Parakākāriki) and an ancient Māori burial ground, Ōtanerito Bay possibly means "the place of Tane, the fertile one".
[48] The Marine Reserve is home to many fish species including triplefins, lumpfish, moki, butterfish, spotties, banded wrasse, blue cod, leather jackets, lobsters, pāua and rockfish.
Numerous archaeological digs have uncovered artefacts including tool fragments, fish hooks, oven stones and seal, Kurī (dog), tuatara, penguin, kiwi, kererū and moa remains in the middens.
[52] Tumbledown bay, was named as a result of the actions of Billy Simpson, who working on sailing boats in the area as early as 1836.
A third explanation is that it was named after Charlie Laveroux, a Frenchman who ended up marooned at the bay by bad weather during a hunting trip.
The track then descends past a 2000 year old giant tōtara in Montgomery Park Scenic Reserve before finishing near the Hilltop tavern on state highway 75.
[59][60] The annual 100 km road cycling race from Cathedral Square in Christchurch to Akaroa traverses Banks Peninsula.
