Akaroa Historical Overview - Christchurch City Council

They appear also on occasion to have towed caught whales into the sheltered waters of
the harbour to “try out” the blubber to produce whale oil on board their vessels. There is
no evidence that try works were established ashore within the harbour basin. Whalers
also came to Akaroa from the shore whaling stations in the southern bays for supplies.
The demand of the pelagic whalers for food gave the Maori living in the harbour basin a
profitable economic activity. The first shore settlements of whalers on Banks Peninsula,
from 1837 on, were not in the harbour basin but in the more open southern bays (Peraki,
Ikoraki, Oashore and Island Bay) from which whales could be more easily sighted and
chased. The whalers in the southern bay shore stations began rudimentary farming,
growing potatoes. 18
Although Akaroa was never a shore whaling station, four try pots in the town are
reminders that whaling played a key role in the establishment of Akaroa as a European
town. These try pots were brought into Akaroa in the early 20 th century. The three which
are now set in brick close to the French landing site were placed first, in about 1913, near
the base of Dalys Wharf. It is thought that one came from Peraki, one from Island Bay
and one possibly from Ikoraki. These try pots were moved to their present location in
1970 (refer figure 3.1). The third try pot which stands on its own at the northern end of
Beach Road was recovered from its original (unknown) location probably also in 1913.
There is a fourth try pot in the Akaroa Museum, where there are also other whaling
relics.
The try pots are the town’s only tangible reminders of the importance of whaling in its
early history. Their long-term survival is of concern and in 2003, the Director of the
Akaroa Museum recommended that the three at the French landing site be removed to
the Museum and the fourth on Beach Road be properly conserved. 19
Figure 3.1. The three whaling try pots set in a brick base close to the French landing
site are Akaroa’s most conspicuous reminders of the town’s origins as a whaling port.
18 Pawson in Queen Elizabeth II Trust Essays (1987), pp. 42-43
19 Report by Lynda Wallace, April 2003; Booklet published by the Akaroa Mail in conjunction with the
Akaroa Civic Trust, ca 1975, p. 17; The Press, 28 September 1926, Supplement, p. III
AKAROA HERITAGE OVERVIEW : SECTION 3 LANDSCAPE & HUMAN HISTORY TO 1840 PAGE 11