Banks Peninsula

Banks Peninsula is what is left of two large volcanoes that erupted between about eleven and eight million years ago and have since been eroded and partly drowned - the sea flooded the two main craters, which is why Lyttelton and Akaroa harbours are long inlets pointing inland with steep sides. Cook charted it as an island; it was only later joined to the mainland by the gravel outwash of the Canterbury Plains. The result is a landscape of radiating valleys and small bays, each with its own settlement, reached over a high Summit Road with views into both harbours. Akaroa on the eastern side was a French settlement in 1840 and retains street names and a self-image from it. Hector's dolphins, among the smallest and rarest in the world, live in the harbour and are the basis of the boat trips. Roads are narrow, steep and slow - distances mislead badly here.

History

According to tradition the first Māori settlers were the Waitaha, led by Rākaihautū, after whom the peninsula is called Te Pātaka o Rākaihautū, "the storehouse of Rākaihautū". James Cook sighted it on 17 February 1770 and, taking it for an island, named it after his botanist Joseph Banks; in 1809 Captain Samuel Chase of the sealer Pegasus found that it was a peninsula (Wikipedia, Banks Peninsula).

Highlights

• The drowned craters - Lyttelton and Akaroa harbours in old volcanoes.
• The Summit Road - the high route with views into both harbours.
• Hector's dolphins - among the world's rarest, in Akaroa Harbour.
• The bays - small settlements at the end of radiating valleys.

When to go

November to April. Allow far more driving time than the map suggests - the roads are narrow, winding and slow. Akaroa fills when cruise ships are in.

Practical notes

Roads are steep, narrow and often unsealed on the bay routes; some are unsuitable for campervans. Cruise ship days transform Akaroa. Dolphin trips are weather-dependent and sightings, while common, are not guaranteed.

Nearby

Christchurch is north-west; Hinewai Reserve is on the southern side of the peninsula.

Key facts