Akaroa

Nuclear free parade, Akaroa, Mothers Day: Christchurch Photo Hunt 2018

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October is Photo Hunt month at Christchurch City Libraries. We invite you to share any of your photos and help grow the city’s photographic archive. All entries must be received by 31 October.

Christchurch City Libraries has produced a set of four postcards promoting the competition which are available from your local library. Each week during October we’ll be featuring one of the postcard images on our blog.

Nuclear free parade, Akaroa, Mothers Day. Kete Christchurch. PH14-JaSh-4. Entry in the 2009 & 2014 Christchurch City Libraries Photo Hunt. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 New Zealand License.

1984. Nuclear issues were on every body’s minds during this time. A very strong group of Akaroa and Banks Peninsula people turned out for this parade on Mothers Day 1984. The district’s local body was the Akaroa County Council and a majority of the council members supported the motion that the Akaroa County, (including Akaroa township), would be nuclear free.

An opinion poll commissioned by the 1986 Defence Committee of Enquiry confirmed that 92 per cent of the population opposed nuclear weapons in New Zealand and 69 per cent opposed warship visits.

The banner carriers leading the way are Paul Flight and David Thurston.

Date: 13 May 1984.

Entry in the 2009 & 2014 Christchurch City Libraries Photo Hunt by Jan Shuttleworth.

About Kete Christchurch

Kete Christchurch is a collection of photographs and stories about Christchurch and Canterbury, past and present. Anyone can join and contribute.

Lighthouse, Akaroa: Picturing Canterbury

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Lighthouse, Akaroa [1898]. File Reference CCL PhotoCD 9, IMG0091.
The Akaroa lighthouse began operation in Jan. 1880 with an oil-illuminated light. It was converted to electric power from a diesel generator in Nov. 1951 and later to the mains power supply. It operated manually from Akaroa Head 1886-1977, when it was replaced by an automatic light. The building was shifted to Akaroa township in Oct. 1980.

Do you have any photographs of the Akaroa lighthouse? If so, feel free to contribute to our collection.

Kete Christchurch is a collection of photographs and stories about Christchurch and Canterbury, past and present. Anyone can join and contribute.

Postcard Hilltop Hotel: Picturing Canterbury

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Postcard Hilltop Hotel. Kete Christchurch. PH16-044. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 New Zealand License.

Postcard of old Hilltop Hotel on Summit Road, Christchurch-Akaroa Highway.

Entry in the 2016 Christchurch City Libraries Photo Hunt by Gladys Gurney.

Kete Christchurch is a collection of photographs and stories about Christchurch and Canterbury, past and present. Anyone can join and contribute.

Do you have any further photographs of the Hill Top Hotel? If so, feel free to contribute to our collection.

Ōnuku Church, 1940: Picturing Canterbury

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Ōnuku Church, 1940. Kete Christchurch. 1940_Onuku. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 New Zealand License.

Kete Christchurch is a collection of photographs and stories about Christchurch and Canterbury, past and present. Anyone can join and contribute.

Do you have any further photographs of Ōnuku Church? If so, feel free to contribute to our collection.

Akaroa Ladies Hockey Team 1911: Picturing Canterbury

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Akaroa Ladies Hockey. 1911.
Akaroa Ladies Hockey 1911. File Reference: Ladies_Hockey._1911.jpg CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 NZ.

Both men’s & women’s hockey has a long tradition in Canterbury; there were seven Canterbury men in the NZ Men’s Hockey Team that won gold at the Montreal Olympics in July 1976.

Kete Christchurch is a collection of photographs and stories about Christchurch and Canterbury, past and present. Anyone can join and contribute.

Bonjour French Fest!

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No doubt like many of you, I grew up learning French at school. For seven years I practiced saying helpful phrases like Ouvre la fenêtre; and Il y a un autobus. I must have enjoyed it, because I then chose to study French at university. As a consequence, decades later, I can fake the BEST French accent, order coffee authentically, and pronounce the word croissant like a pro.

French Fest

My early exposure to French language and culture has also, however, left me with an enduring love for all things Gallic. So Akaroa’s biennial French Fest – happening this year from Friday 9th to Sunday 11th October – is a celebration I would very dearly love to attend. Malheureusement, I will be away that weekend, so I will be relying on all of you to do your best to pop over the hill and join in the celebrations.

And there’s a lot to celebrate – this year marks the 175th anniversary of the first organised European settlement. You can choose to mark the occasion by attending Friday night’s Fête des Lumières Street Party, or watch the following morning’s re-enactment of the landing of the settlers from the French ship Comte de Paris. Saturday also offers Le Jour du Marché, with a street market at the showgrounds, and on Sunday you can join in (or just watch!) a game of Ki-o-Rahi – a traditional Māori ball game played by two teams on a circular pitch that was taught to the French settlers.

As an added bonus, French Fest has this year partnered with Beca Heritage Week, and has the honour of offering the very first event in that festival’s programme. So much to see and do! Je suis jaloux that you will be able to attend – perhaps as a small favour I could ask you to bring me back a croissant, or possibly even pain au chocolat.

French books
French books at Central Library Peterborough. Flickr 2015-09-23-IMG_9541

Akaroa info

More French stuff

L'Hebdo magazine Cover of French Vogue Cover of Nina

The displaced reader: Akaroa a welcoming spot

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Kaye Matthews
Kaye Matthews-Akaroa

My name is Rob, and I usually work at New Brighton Library, but immediately after the earthquake my family and I moved temporarily to Akaroa.  Akaroa Library was one of the first to open its doors after the February earthquake, and both the town and the library became a haven for many displaced readers.

A truly stunning and scenic hour’s drive from Christchurch, the Akaroa library has all the services of the city branches, but with a seaside peninsula charm all its own.  I went to the library hoping to be able to do something useful for the community and was welcomed with open arms by the staff. I spent three enjoyable weeks listening and talking to all the locals and the many Christchurch refugees. It was great to be able to use the internet, return books and get useful, timely Christchurch City Council information, as well as have access to all the collections available at any of the library’s branches.

Kaye Matthews has worked at the library about 20 years, and is a fountain of local knowledge.  Sadly for us, she is leaving soon, but we hope she will come back and visit often.  If you are out on the peninsula, or would like a change of scenery, Akaroa is a wonderful spot and we think it’s well worth a visit too!

Pioneers at Akaroa- Image of the Week

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Image of the Week has taken a break with all of the earthquake madness and other such adventures. But we’re back highlighting more great images from our collection.

Pioneers at Akaroa

“Pioneers at Akaroa” 1886. Photograph by A. E. Preece, 1863-1946.

Do you have photos of Christchurch? We love donations.

Also contact us if you have any further information on any of the images. Want to see more? You can browse our collection.