LYTTELTON GRAVING DOCK - Lyttelton, Christchurch
Designed by harbour board engineer C. Napier Bell, the Lyttelton Graving Dock was opened in 1883, and is still in regular use after more than a century. The graving dock is regarded as one of the country’s most important structures of marine engineering heritage. Its length illustrates the size of the sailing clippers it was built to service which were much less beamy than modern boats.
Location: Lyttelton, Christchurch.
Price: free
Hours: 24.
Web:
Photo courtesy of heritage-expeditions.com
RIPAPA (FORT JERVOIS) - HISTORIC RESERVE
- Lyttelton, Christchurch.
The most impressive relic of 19th century efforts to protect Lyttelton is Fort Jervois on Ripapa Island. The island was the site of an early 19th century "musket pa" (a fortification constructed to protect the defenders against fire from muskets) built by a local chief, Taununu. Used as a quarantine station for new immigrants from 1873 to 1885. In 1880 the Island was used temporarily as a prison for 150 of Te Whiti’s followers.
Location: Lyttelton Harbour, Lyttelton, Christchurch.
Price: free.
Hours: 24.
Photo courtesy of Megan Hieatt, Wikipedia.
OLD HARBOUR BOARD OFFICES
- Lyttelton, Christchurch.
The Old Harbour Board Offices at 5 Norwich Quay is a relatively imposing two storeyed building constructed in 1880 for the influential Lyttelton Harbour Board authority which developed the inner harbour. Located on land that had been declared by the Canterbury Association as a public reserve (Reserve 33) in 1851. The Harbour Board was formed in January 1877 and soon a decision was made to construct the harbour board offices on that site.
Location: 5 Norwich Quay And Oxford Street, Lyttelton, Christchurch.
Price: free
Hours: 24
Photo courtesy of http://www.heritage.org.nz
Photo courtesy of www.virtualtourist.com
TUG LYTTELTON - Lyttelton, Christchurch
Built in Glasgow, the Tug Lyttelton arrived in Lyttelton in 1907, of which Its working life came to an end in 1971. Subsequently it was preserved and is still kept in running order by a local preservation society. A trip on the oldest surviving tug in New Zealand is a wonderful way to re-experience life at sea in the days of steam, trips are run in the summer season from christmas till April/May and take you to the Lyttelton Harbour Heads. During the cruise, passengers are able to view the workings of a steam ship that is over 100 years old.
Location: Lyttelton, Christchurch.
Price: $25, Senior Citizens $20, Children $10, Family $50
Hours: Christmas to April or May, Sunday Afternoons 2pm till 4pm.
Helpful Links
RAPAKI SETTLEMENT - Lyttelton, Christchurch
One of the original reserves set aside when Canterbury was purchased from the Maori was at Rapaki. Still a thriving Maori village, the settlement has a picturesque church, dating from 1869, a meeting house/hall called Te Wheke opened in 1901, an historic native school building and the memorial Gallipoli jetty.
Location: Lyttelton Harbour, Lyttelton, Christchurch.
Hours: 24, building times vary.
Price: free, donations accepted.
Web: http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-TayLore-t1-body1-d7.html
Photo courtesy of www.christchurchdailyphoto.com
LYTTELTON - Christchurch
Lyttelton is a small historic harbour town close to Christchurch with some interesting historic sights and quaint walks for you to enjoy. Get there by catching Bus 28 from outside the Millennium Hotel in Cathedral Square. Buses depart every half hour Monday - Friday, and hourly on the weekends
Location: Lyttelton, Christchurch.
Hours: 24
Price: free.
Photo courtesy of Mick Stephenson, Wikipedia
BRIDAL PATH & PIONEER WOMEN'S MEMORIAL
- Lyttelton, Christchurch
When they arrived in 1850, the Bridle Path provided the first Canterbury Settlers with access from the port at Lyttelton to the site of Christchurch. The journey over the hill on this path has become symbolic of the challenges faced by the settlers. At the top, where the Bridle Path crosses the Summit Road, is a memorial to the pioneer women. The Bridle Path can be a mountainbike route but its steepness means that it is one for experienced riders. The Bridle Path crosses the Christchurch Scenic Route
Location: Summit Rd, Lyttelton, Christchurch.
Price: free.
Hours: 24.
Photo courtesy of wozamark.blogspot.com
QUAIL ISLAND - Lyttelton, Christchurch
Now a reserve, Quail Island, in the middle of Lyttelton Harbour, was taken up for farming as early as 1850. It has had a long and fascinating history as a quarantine station (an 1874 barracks remains from these days) and a leper colony. Among the animals quarantined on the island were dogs and ponies being taken south by Shackleton and Scott to Antarctica in the “heroic age” of exploration of that continent. Take a ferry from Lyttelton to access the island and walks available.
Location: Quail Island, Lyttelton Harbour, Lyttelton.
Hours: October - April, Ferries depart Lyttelton for Quail Island 7 Days a week.
Price: Visit the site for ferry prices.
Photo courtesy of planmyplay.org.nz
CHIEF WARDERS HOUSE - Lyttelton, Christchurch
Sitting across the road from the site of the former Lyttelton Gaol is this fine colonial house built in a style labelled Rustic Gothic. Known as the Chief Warder's House, it was built by prison labour about 1875.
Location: 39 Oxford Street, Lyttelton
Hours: 24, view from outside.
Price: free.
Photo courtesy of http://www.heritage.org.nz
LYTTELTON FARMERS MARKET
- Lyttelton, Christchurch
The Lyttelton Farmers Market provides stalls quality food producers selling fruit and vegetables, free range eggs, bread cheese and plants. Well worth a look on the sunny Sunday. To get there from Christchurch take a 28 (Lyttelton/Rapaki) or 35 (Heathcote) bus through the tunnel to Lyttelton.
Location: London St, Lyttelton, Christchurch.
Price: free
Hours: Every Saturday from 10am to 1pm.
Photo courtesy of www.christchurchdailyphoto.com
GAOL SITE - Lyttelton, Christchurch
The site and remains of the Lyttelton Gaol, built in an ad hoc manner from 1857 right in the township of Lyttelton in Oxford Street, incorporate relatively rare surviving examples of early concrete use in New Zealand from the 1870s and are important in informing about New Zealand's early penal system and law and order in the colonial town. Although most of the buildings associated with the gaol have been demolished, some significant features remain. Seven men were hung within its walls. Its Hard Labour Gang built roads and stone walls around Lyttelton. They also built Fort Jervois on Ripapa Island and the Quarantine Station on Quail Island.
Location: Oxford Street, Lyttelton, Christchurch.
Price: free
Hours: 24
Photo courtesy of Francis Vallance vallance.photography@xtra.co.nz
Mid Canterbury Sights
Christchurch, Ashburston, Lincoln
Rolleston, Darfield, Leston, Methven, Akaroa