[1] The wider area around Gollans Bay within Lyttelton Harbour / Whakaraupō is also known as Otokitoki,[1] and this Māori language word refers either to 'the place of tokitoki' (a native tree commonly known as tītoki), or a brown duck (Anas chlorotis), or New Zealand dabchick (Poliocephalus rufopectus).

[4] The land on top of Godley Head is exposed with no access to fresh water, which explains why there is no evidence of early Māori occupation.

In the end, British civil engineer George Robert Stephenson was commissioned to give his recommendation based on survey plans.

Built in Norwich, England, as a kit set, it travelled with the Terra Nova Expedition to Antarctica as a weather station but was never assembled.

Gifted by its private owners and rescued by the Department of Conservation after the Christchurch earthquakes from the top of a crumbling cliff, it was relocated to Godley Head to once again have a commanding view over the sea.