Banks Peninsula

Story

Banks Peninsula is a peninsula of volcanic origin on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It has an area of approximately 1150km2 and encompasses two large harbours and many smaller bays and coves. The South Island's largest city, Christchurch, is immediately north of the peninsula.HistoryThree successive phases of Māori settlement took place on the peninsula, which is still known to Māori as Te Pataka o Rakaihautu (The Storehouse of Rakaihautu). Rakaihautu brought the Waitaha to the South Island in the waka (canoe) Uruao; they were the first people to light the fires of occupation. Thus Banks Peninsula was named Te Pataka o Rakaihautu in recognition of his deeds and the abundance of mahinga kai (foods of the forests, sea, rivers and skies) found on the peninsula. Waitaha settled there first, followed by Kāti Mamoe, and then Ngai Tahu took over in the 17th century.The crew of Captain James Cook became the first Europeans to sight the peninsula on 17 February 1770, during Cook's first circumnavigation of New Zealand. Cook described the land as "of a circular figure... of a very broken uneven surface and more the appearance of barrenness than fertility." Deceived by the outline of higher land behind the peninsula, Cook mistook it for an island and named it "Banks Island" in honour of Endeavours botanist, Joseph Banks. Distracted by a phantom sighting of land to the southeast, Cook then ordered Endeavour away to the south without exploring more closely.