BANKS PENINSULA

Banks Peninsula is situated in about the middle of the east coast of the South Island on the margin of the Canterbury Plains. It is approximately 450 sq. miles in area and its highest point is Herbert Peak, 3,014 ft. It comprises two extinct volcanoes which were active less than half a million years ago. Their craters have subsequently been enlarged to many times their original size by stream erosion; they were then invaded by the sea during the postglacial world-wide rise in sea level beginning about 15,000 years ago. They now form the harbours of Lyttelton and Akaroa. Originally Banks Peninsula was an island, but it became tied to the Canterbury Plains at some late stage in geological history when the growing alluvial plain reached its base.

Akaroa is the larger volcano and probably reached a height of over 4,500 ft. Estimates of its original height are uncertain, since they cannot be based solely on the projection of existing lava slopes upwards for the reason that volcanoes of this type often have domed profiles with a falling off in gradient towards their tops. The flows consist mostly of basalt and andesite, and ash beds are not very common. Thick hard lava flows, suitable for quarry sites, are surprisingly hard to find. Dykes, vertical walls of volcanic rock pushed up fissures from below, are common and form prominent ridges in places. In the case of Lyttelton Volcano their radical arrangement centres on Quail Island, which, therefore, is thought to be near the site of the original vent. The original vent for Akaroa Volcano is considered to be near Onawe Peninsula. Because the volcanoes are situated sufficiently close to one another there is a zone of intermingling of their lava flows several miles wide, hence the impossibility of saying from which volcano the various flows originated. At a fairly late stage in the geological history of these volcanoes, when the topography was similar to that of the present day, lava was erupted from near Herbert Peak and flowed down the southern slopes of Lyttelton Harbour to form the prominent spur on which Diamond Harbour now stands. The lower slopes of the peninsula are mantled with a yellow, wind-blown silt, called loess, which was blown by the norwesters during the most recent ice advances from the wide beds of rivers such as the Waimakariri. An alternative theory is that the loess originated from sand banks out to sea. During the lowered sea level periods of the ice ages these became land and the silt was then blown inland by the prevailing easterlies. Moa bones, as well as gizzard stones of these and smaller birds, are common in the loess, which is now used quite extensively for brick and pipe manufacture.

Banks Peninsula has a somewhat more salubrious climate than Canterbury Plains, with a higher rainfall and fewer frosts, particularly on the lower slopes. Snow is common on the highest slopes during the winter months and often lies for several weeks on the tops, although the thickness is not great.

Historical

In the course of his circumnavigation of the South Island Captain Cook sighted the peninsula on 16 February 1770. On the following day he concluded it was an island and named it in honour of Joseph Banks. On that day he also saw the entrance to Akaroa Harbour. In the early years of the nineteenth century sealers and whalers appeared on the scene and they found Maori (Ngai Tahu) settlements near where Lyttelton and Akaroa now stand. The natives, however, had been almost exterminated by the raids of Te Rauparaha. During the 1830s French, American, and British deep-sea whalers were frequent visitors and they all traded with the Maoris, particularly for flax and foodstuffs. In December 1839 the French, through an association called the Nanto-Bordelaise Company, planned a settlement at Akaroa. When, however, the advance guard of settlers arrived in August 1840 they found that British sovereignty had already been proclaimed over the whole of New Zealand, including the South Island. All hopes of a French colony taking shape were therefore destroyed. Meanwhile British settlers were increasing rapidly and numerous small settlements were founded, mostly at the bay heads of Akaroa and Lyttelton Harbours. Communication between these bay heads has never been very easy and for want of suitable roads the bay head settlers had to rely almost entirely on sea transport. A railway tunnel over 1½ miles long and linking Christchurch with the port of Lyttelton was opened on 9 November 1867. Nearly a hundred years later, on 28 February 1964, a two-lane road tunnel was also opened alongside it.

Vegetation and Farming

Podocarp forest covered most of the peninsula at the time of settlement, apart from the drier northern hills (now known as the Port Hills) surrounding Lyttelton Harbour where there was extensive open-tussock grassland. The bush was dense in the valleys and lower slopes, but gave way to scrub formations and patches of bush on or near the summits. Valuable timber trees, such as black and white pine and totara, were abundant in many places and sawmilling occupied many of the early settlers. The peak year for timber production was probably 1870; by that time 75 per cent of the forest had been cut over or cleared. By 1900 almost the whole forest cover of 140,000 acres had been removed and only a few scattered patches, in total less than 150 acres, now remain.

With the removal of the bush, dairying was found most suitable in the valleys, and sheep grazing on the upland. Market gardening is carried on in the valleys overlooking Christchurch and there are orchards at Governors Bay. Banks Peninsula was for many years (until about 1950) noted for its grasses and, particularly, cocksfoot. At the present day grazing of sheep for fat and store lambs and wool is carried on in the uplands, and beef cattle are run in the gullies. Dairying has declined over the last 20 years and there are now only a few cheese factories on the peninsula.

Population

Since 1900 the peninsula has not shown any marked increase and, apart from the townships of Akaroa and Lyttelton, the population of almost all the bays and western valleys (excluding extensions of metropolitan Christchurch) has shown a slow but marked decline. The total population of Banks Peninsula at the 1961 census, excluding the boroughs of Lyttelton, and Akaroa, and Heathcote and Halswell counties, was 2,620.

Present Significance

Lyttelton, the port of Christchurch, and Akaroa, a county town, are the only two towns of any significance. Fishing is carried on in both places, the Lyttelton catch ranking ninth for New Zealand and the Akaroa catch equalling half of this. The good fishing grounds near Banks Peninsula are fished by boats from further afield and their catches landed at other parts. Akaroa is also noted for its crayfish catch. Occasionally large tourist ships anchor in Akaroa's beautiful and spacious harbour, and the township and its surroundings, with their French associations, have tourist interest. Lyttelton is notable as a port–it is third in importance in New Zealand–and it is the southern terminus for the inter-island steamer express service.

by Henry Stephen Gair, M.SC., New Zealand Geological Survey, Christchurch.

• The French at Akaroa, Buick, T. L. (1928)
• Place names of Banks Peninsula, Anderson, J. C. (1927)
• Crown Colony Government in New Zealand, McLintock, A. H. (1958).