The Avon River (Ōtākaro)

I can’t begin to fathom how surreal the afternoon/evening of the 16th December 1850 would have been for the Deans brothers. Especially as they may have stood in the doorway of the Deans Cottage while the shrieks and shouts of two stripped down male settlers splashed about in the Avon River – their echoes adding …

The Cambridge Green

On the corner of Barbadoes and Salisbury Streets is an area now known as The Cambridge Green. A reserve of great historic significance.The home of the Ngai Tahu’s Puari Pa, it was a gathering place of foods such as eels, whitebait, native trout, grey and paradise ducks. During the 18th century, a great Maori wedding …

Treaty Arrived In Akaroa – 28th May 1840

On 28th May 1840, the HMS Herald arrived at Akaroa with the Treaty of Waitangi on board. Commissioner Major Thomas Bunbury and interpreter Edward Marsh Williams were there to collect more signatures. This was known as the ‘Herald-Bunbury copy’. As the men travelled around the South Island, they were faced with wide spread disagreement of …