Ripa Island

No one needed to explain to ex-banker, now convict Jonathan Roberts, that Ripa Island had never been a place of great joy, even in the decades before he and his 39 other convict buddies found themselves there, breaking rocks that would build Fort Jervois.  As Jonathan bit into the bread that was his lunch that …

Canterbury’s Prisoner Of War – 1918

Ripa (Ripper) Island – as most of us call it today – was known to the Ngati Mamoe and the Ngai Tahu as Ri-papa. ‘Ri’ means rope and ‘Papa’ means flat rock. As ropes made of flax were used to bring the Maori canoes – some the length of 24 metres – up onto the …