1.
Christchurch
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Christchurch is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. The Christchurch urban area lies on the South Islands east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula and it is home to 389,700 residents, making it New Zealands third most-populous urban area behind Auckland and Wellington. The city was named by the Canterbury Association, which settled the province of Canterbury. The name of Christchurch was agreed on at the first meeting of the association on 27 March 1848 and it was suggested by John Robert Godley, who had attended Christ Church, Oxford. Some early writers called the town Christ Church, but it was recorded as Christchurch in the minutes of the management committee of the association, Christchurch became a city by Royal Charter on 31 July 1856, making it officially the oldest established city in New Zealand. The Avon River flows through the centre of the city, with a park located along its banks. At the request of the Deans brothers, the river was named after the River Avon in Scotland, the usual Māori name for Christchurch is Ōtautahi. This was originally the name of a site by the Avon River near present-day Kilmore Street. The site was a dwelling of Ngāi Tahu chief Te Potiki Tautahi. The Ōtautahi name was adopted in the 1930s, prior to that the Ngāi Tahu generally referred to the Christchurch area as Karaitiana, a transliteration of the English word Christian. The citys name is abbreviated by New Zealanders to Chch. In New Zealand Sign Language, the name is the fingerspelled letter C signed twice, with the second to the right of the first. Archaeological evidence found in a cave at Redcliffs in 1876 has indicated that the Christchurch area was first settled by moa-hunting tribes about 1250 CE. These first inhabitants were thought to have followed by the Waitaha tribe. Following tribal warfare, the Waitaha were dispossessed by the Ngati Mamoe tribe and they were in turn subjugated by the Ngāi Tahu tribe, who remained in control until the arrival of European settlers. Their abandoned holdings were taken over by the Deans brothers in 1843 who stayed, the First Four Ships were chartered by the Canterbury Association and brought the first 792 of the Canterbury Pilgrims to Lyttelton Harbour. These sailing vessels were the Randolph, Charlotte Jane, Sir George Seymour, the Charlotte Jane was the first to arrive on 16 December 1850. The Canterbury Pilgrims had aspirations of building a city around a cathedral and college, the name Christ Church was decided prior to the ships arrival, at the Associations first meeting, on 27 March 1848
2.
Joseph Thomas (surveyor)
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Captain Joseph Thomas was the chief surveyor for Lyttelton, Sumner, and Christchurch in New Zealand. He took up surveying after service in the British army, gaining the rank of lieutenant, in the 1840s, he explored many parts of New Zealand and worked for the New Zealand Company. This gained him employment with the Canterbury Association, which sent him to New Zealand in 1848, Thomas role was to find a suitable site for their proposed settlement, and what became the Canterbury region with Christchurch as its capital was the result of his efforts. He was dismissed in early 1851 over quarrels with John Robert Godley, Thomas life after 1853 is unknown. Having allowed for Hagley Park as a central city green space is regarded as his major achievement. Thomas was born in Worcester, England, in 1803, at age 13, he was an ensign in the 101st Regiment. In 1819, he was admitted to the Royal Military College, Sandhurst and in November 1822 and he served in India and in November 1827 transferred to the 19th Regiment of Foot for service in the West Indies. Thomas left the army in 1833 with the rank of lieutenant and he returned to England in 1839. Thomas purchased land in Wellington from the New Zealand Company and arrived there on the Adelaide on 7 March 1840, as the land proved to be unavailable, he ventured into fishing and whaling, but in 1841 accepted a survey position under William Mein Smith. Thomas undertook work in Wanganui and Porirua, but together with most of his colleagues, in the following year, he was engaged to undertake survey work in the Otago region under Frederick Tuckett, but the work was postponed and he explored parts of the North Island instead. He returned to England and soon after in 1848 was appointed by the Canterbury Association as their chief surveyor for their settlement in Canterbury. His formal employer was the New Zealand Company, as the Canterbury Association had not received its charter and he left England on 6 July 1848 together with the surveyors Thomas Cass and Charles Torlesse, and arrived in Nelson on 5 November. Other instructions to Thomas included that the settlement should have an area of at least 1,000,000 acres. The settlement could be at the coast or inland, but any coastal settlement required a good harbour, the capital was to be called Christchurch. In Nelson, he organised a copy of the written by G. Duppa of his 1841 exploration of Port Cooper. Thomas went to Wellington next, where he arrived on 21 November 1848, William Fox as the New Zealand Companys agent accompanied the three surveyors on the journey, and they reached Port Cooper on 15 December 1848. Thomas himself explored Banks Peninsula on foot and went to Port Levy, Pigeon Bay, Akaroa, Little River and back via the inland shore of Lake Ellesmere. Their own report was supplemented by a report from the Deans brothers, Thomas and Fox jointly approved land holdings for two parties of settlers already in the area, who had paid for land in the Wellington area which had not been available
3.
2011 Christchurch earthquake
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An earthquake occurred in Christchurch on 22 February 2011 at 12,51 p. m. local time and registered 6.3 on the Richter scale. The earthquake caused damage across Christchurch, killing 185 people in the nations fifth-deadliest natural disaster. Significant liquefaction affected the eastern suburbs, producing around 400,000 tonnes of silt, the earthquake was felt across the South Island and parts of the lower and central North Island. Subsequent population loss saw the Christchurch main urban area fall behind the Wellington equivalent to decrease from second to third most populous area in New Zealand,185 people from more than 20 countries died in the earthquake. Over half of the deaths occurred in the six-storey Canterbury Television Building, an additional 28 people were killed in various places across the city centre, and twelve were killed in suburban Christchurch. Due to the injuries sustained some bodies remained unidentified, between 6,600 and 6,800 people were treated for minor injuries, and Christchurch Hospital alone treated 220 major trauma cases connected to the quake. Rescue efforts continued for over a week, then shifted into recovery mode, the last survivor was pulled from the rubble the day after the quake. The nationalities of the deceased are as follows, road and bridge damage occurred and hampered rescue efforts. Soil liquefaction and surface flooding also occurred, road surfaces were forced up by liquefaction, and water and sand were spewing out of cracks. A number of cars were crushed by falling debris, in the central city, two buses were crushed by falling buildings. Because the earthquake hit during the hour, some people on the footpaths were buried by collapsed buildings. Damage occurred to older buildings, particularly those with unreinforced masonry. Of the 3,000 buildings inspected within the four avenues of the city by 3 March 2011. Many heritage buildings were given red stickers after inspections, as of February 2015, there had been 1240 demolitions within the four avenues since the September 2010 earthquakes. The six-storey Canterbury Television building collapsed in the earthquake, leaving only its lift shaft standing,115 people died in the building, which housed a TV station, a medical clinic and an English language school. On 23 February police decided that the damage was not survivable, fire-fighting and recovery operations resumed that night, later joined by a Japanese search and rescue squad. Twelve Japanese students from the Toyama College of Foreign Languages died in the building collapse, a government report later found that the buildings construction was faulty and should not have been approved. The four-storey Pyne Gould Guinness House on Cambridge Terrace, headquarters of Pyne Gould Corporation, collapsed, on Wednesday morning,22 hours after the quake, a survivor was pulled from the rubble
4.
Volcano
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A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. Earths volcanoes occur because its crust is broken into 17 major, therefore, on Earth, volcanoes are generally found where tectonic plates are diverging or converging. This type of volcanism falls under the umbrella of plate hypothesis volcanism, Volcanism away from plate boundaries has also been explained as mantle plumes. These so-called hotspots, for example Hawaii, are postulated to arise from upwelling diapirs with magma from the boundary,3,000 km deep in the Earth. Volcanoes are usually not created where two plates slide past one another. Erupting volcanoes can pose hazards, not only in the immediate vicinity of the eruption. Historically, so-called volcanic winters have caused catastrophic famines, the word volcano is derived from the name of Vulcano, a volcanic island in the Aeolian Islands of Italy whose name in turn comes from Vulcan, the god of fire in Roman mythology. The study of volcanoes is called volcanology, sometimes spelled vulcanology, at the mid-oceanic ridges, two tectonic plates diverge from one another as new oceanic crust is formed by the cooling and solidifying of hot molten rock. Most divergent plate boundaries are at the bottom of the oceans, therefore, most volcanic activity is submarine, black smokers are evidence of this kind of volcanic activity. Where the mid-oceanic ridge is above sea-level, volcanic islands are formed, for example, subduction zones are places where two plates, usually an oceanic plate and a continental plate, collide. In this case, the plate subducts, or submerges under the continental plate forming a deep ocean trench just offshore. In a process called flux melting, water released from the subducting plate lowers the temperature of the overlying mantle wedge. This magma tends to be very viscous due to its high content, so it often does not reach the surface. When it does reach the surface, a volcano is formed, typical examples of this kind of volcano are Mount Etna and the volcanoes in the Pacific Ring of Fire. Because tectonic plates move across them, each volcano becomes dormant and is eventually re-formed as the plate advances over the postulated plume and this theory is currently under criticism, however. The most common perception of a volcano is of a mountain, spewing lava and poisonous gases from a crater at its summit, however. The features of volcanoes are more complicated and their structure. Some volcanoes have rugged peaks formed by lava domes rather than a summit crater while others have features such as massive plateaus
5.
Banks Peninsula
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Banks Peninsula is a peninsula of volcanic origin on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It has an area of approximately 1,150 square kilometres and encompasses two large harbours and many bays and coves. The South Islands largest city, Christchurch, is north of the peninsula. Three successive phases of Māori settlement took place on the peninsula, Rakaihautu brought the Waitaha to the South Island in the waka Uruao, they were the first people to light the fires of occupation. Thus Banks Peninsula was named Te Pataka o Rakaihautu in recognition of his deeds, Waitaha settled there first, followed by Kāti Mamoe, and then Ngai Tahu took over in the 17th century. The crew of Captain James Cook became the first Europeans to sight the peninsula on 17 February 1770, Cook described the land as of a circular figure. Of a very broken uneven surface and more the appearance of barrenness than fertility, deceived by the outline of higher land behind the peninsula, Cook mistook it for an island and named it Banks Island in honour of Endeavours botanist, Joseph Banks. Distracted by a sighting of land to the southeast, Cook then ordered Endeavour away to the south without exploring more closely. Two significant events in the assumption of British sovereignty over New Zealand occurred at Akaroa, first, in 1830 the Māori settlement at Takapuneke became the scene of a notorious incident. The Captain of the British brig Elizabeth, John Stewart, helped North Island Ngāti Toa chief, Te Rauparaha, to capture the local Ngai Tahu chief, the settlement of Takapuneke was sacked. Then in 1838 Captain Langlois, a French whaler, decided that Akaroa would make a settlement to service whaling ships. On hearing of the French plan for colonisation, Hobson quickly dispatched the HMS Britomart from the Bay of Islands to Akaroa with police magistrates on board. From the 1850s, Lyttelton and then Christchurch outgrew Akaroa, which has developed into a holiday resort, historic harbour defence works dating from 1874 onwards survive at Ripapa Island in Lyttelton Harbour, and at Godley Head. In 2011, the Christchurch earthquakes of Feb and June had their epicentres in the Port Hills, Banks Peninsula forms the most prominent volcanic feature of the South Island. Geologically, the peninsula comprises the eroded remnants of two large shield volcanoes, and the smaller Mt Herbert Volcanic Group. These formed due to intraplate volcanism between approximately eleven and eight years ago on a continental crust. The peninsula formed as offshore islands, with the volcanoes reaching to about 1,500 m above sea level, two dominant craters formed Lyttelton and Akaroa Harbours. The Canterbury Plains formed from the erosion of the Southern Alps and these plains reach their widest point where they meet the hilly sub-region of Banks Peninsula
6.
Pacific Ocean
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The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of the Earths oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south and is bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, the Mariana Trench in the western North Pacific is the deepest point in the world, reaching a depth of 10,911 metres. Both the center of the Water Hemisphere and the Western Hemisphere are in the Pacific Ocean, the oceans current name was coined by Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan during the Spanish circumnavigation of the world in 1521, as he encountered favourable winds on reaching the ocean. He called it Mar Pacífico, which in both Portuguese and Spanish means peaceful sea, important human migrations occurred in the Pacific in prehistoric times. Long-distance trade developed all along the coast from Mozambique to Japan, trade, and therefore knowledge, extended to the Indonesian islands but apparently not Australia. By at least 878 when there was a significant Islamic settlement in Canton much of trade was controlled by Arabs or Muslims. In 219 BC Xu Fu sailed out into the Pacific searching for the elixir of immortality, from 1404 to 1433 Zheng He led expeditions into the Indian Ocean. The east side of the ocean was discovered by Spanish explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa in 1513 after his expedition crossed the Isthmus of Panama and he named it Mar del Sur because the ocean was to the south of the coast of the isthmus where he first observed the Pacific. Later, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan sailed the Pacific East to West on a Castilian expedition of world circumnavigation starting in 1519, Magellan called the ocean Pacífico because, after sailing through the stormy seas off Cape Horn, the expedition found calm waters. The ocean was often called the Sea of Magellan in his honor until the eighteenth century, sailing around and east of the Moluccas, between 1525 and 1527, Portuguese expeditions discovered the Caroline Islands, the Aru Islands, and Papua New Guinea. In 1542–43 the Portuguese also reached Japan, in 1564, five Spanish ships consisting of 379 explorers crossed the ocean from Mexico led by Miguel López de Legazpi and sailed to the Philippines and Mariana Islands. The Manila galleons operated for two and a half centuries linking Manila and Acapulco, in one of the longest trade routes in history, Spanish expeditions also discovered Tuvalu, the Marquesas, the Cook Islands, the Solomon Islands, and the Admiralty Islands in the South Pacific. In the 16th and 17th century Spain considered the Pacific Ocean a Mare clausum—a sea closed to other naval powers, as the only known entrance from the Atlantic the Strait of Magellan was at times patrolled by fleets sent to prevent entrance of non-Spanish ships. On the western end of the Pacific Ocean the Dutch threatened the Spanish Philippines, Spain also sent expeditions to the Pacific Northwest reaching Vancouver Island in southern Canada, and Alaska. The French explored and settled Polynesia, and the British made three voyages with James Cook to the South Pacific and Australia, Hawaii, and the North American Pacific Northwest, one of the earliest voyages of scientific exploration was organized by Spain in the Malaspina Expedition of 1789–1794. It sailed vast areas of the Pacific, from Cape Horn to Alaska, Guam and the Philippines, New Zealand, Australia, and the South Pacific. Growing imperialism during the 19th century resulted in the occupation of much of Oceania by other European powers, and later, Japan, in Oceania, France got a leading position as imperial power after making Tahiti and New Caledonia protectorates in 1842 and 1853 respectively. After navy visits to Easter Island in 1875 and 1887, Chilean navy officer Policarpo Toro managed to negotiate an incorporation of the island into Chile with native Rapanui in 1888, by occupying Easter Island, Chile joined the imperial nations
7.
Lifeboat (rescue)
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A rescue lifeboat is a boat rescue craft which is used to attend a vessel in distress, or its survivors, to rescue crew and passengers. It can be pulled, sail powered or powered by an engine. Lifeboats may be rigid, inflatable or rigid-inflatable combination hulled vessels, there are generally three types of boat, in-land, in-shore and off-shore. A rescue lifeboat is a boat designed with specialised features for searching for, in the United Kingdom and Ireland rescue lifeboats are typically vessels manned by volunteers, intended for quick dispatch, launch and transit to reach a ship or individuals in trouble at sea. Off-shore boats are referred to as All-weather and generally have a range of 150–250 nautical miles, characteristics such as capability to withstand heavy weather, fuel capacity, navigation and communication devices carried, vary with size. A smaller IRB inshore rescue boat / ILB inshore life boat, on standby rather than on patrol mode these vessels are ready for service rather like a crew of fire fighters standing by for an alert. In Canada, some lifeboats are co-crewed, meaning that the operator and these two types were superseded by newer types of RIBs which had purpose built hulls and flotation tubes. A gap in operations caused the New Zealand Lifeguard Service to reintroduce small 2 man IRBs, larger non-inflatable boats are also employed as lifeboats. The RNLI fields the Severn class lifeboat and Tamar class lifeboat as all-weather lifeboats, in the United States and Canada, the term motor life boat refers to a similar class of non-inflatable lifeboats, the latest of which is the 47-foot Motor Lifeboat. A regular lifeboat service operated from 1854 to 1940 along the middle reaches of the Chang jiang or Yangtze and these waters are particularly treacherous to waterway travellers owing to the canyon-like gorge conditions along the river shore and the high volume and rate of flow. The long river was a means of communication between coastal and interior China. The first lifeboat station in Britain was at Formby beach, established in 1776 by William Hutchinson, the first boat specialised as a lifeboat was tested on the River Tyne in England on January 29,1790, built by Henry Greathead. The design won a competition organised by the private Law House committee, though William Wouldhave, Greatheads boat, the Original entered service in 1790 and another 31 of the same design were constructed. The 28 feet boat was rowed by up to 12 crew for whom cork jackets were provided, in 1807 Ludkin designed the Frances Ann for the Lowestoft service, which wasnt satisfied with Greatheads design, and this saved 300 lives over 42 years of service. The first self-righting design was developed by William Wouldhave and also entered in the Law House competition, self-righting designs were not deployed until the 1840s. These lifeboats were manned by 6 to 10 volunteers who would row out from shore when a ship was in distress, in the case of the UK the crews were generally local boatmen. One example of this was the Newhaven Lifeboat, established in 1803 in response to the wrecking of HMS Brazen in January 1800, the UK combined many of these local efforts into a national organisation in 1824 with the establishment of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution. One example of a lifeboat was the Landguard Fort Lifeboat of 1821
8.
Akaroa
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Akaroa is a small town on Banks Peninsula in the Canterbury region of the South Island of New Zealand, situated within a harbour of the same name. The name Akaroa is Kāi Tahu Māori for Long Harbour, which would be spelled Whangaroa in standard Māori, Akaroa is 84 kilometres by road from Christchurch and is the terminus of State Highway 75. In the 2013 New Zealand census, the permanent population was 624, the town has a high ratio of residents aged over 65 It is set on sheltered harbour and is overlooked and surrounded by the remnants of a miocene volcano. Akaroa is a resort town and in summer the temporary population can reach 15,000 which places stress on the summer water supply. Many Hectors dolphins may be found within Akaroa harbour, and swim with the boat tours are a major tourist attraction. In 1830 the Māori settlement at Takapuneke, just east of the current town of Akaroa, the settlement of Takapuneke was sacked. In 1832 Te Rauparaha, fresh from his successful siege of Kaiapoi. After being informed of the French intent to colonise Akaroa and use further as a whaling port, the Britomart arrived in Akaroa on 16 August, Captain Stanley raised the British flag and held a court at each of the occupied settlements. James Robinson Clough, also known as Jimmy Robinson, had arrived at Akaroa several years before and he acted as interpreter for Captain Owen Stanley at the flag-raising of 1840, and was the first Pākehā to travel up the Avon River in 1843. Cloughs descendants are prominent on the Peninsula today. The following English immigrants settled in both Akaroa and German Bay along with many German farmers who set up dairy, sheep, the great majority of the artifacts currently held at Akaroa Museum are of the early farming community and their lifestyle of the time. In 1838 Captain Jean François Langlois made a purchase of land in the greater Banks Peninsula from Tuaanau. A deposit of commodities in the value of £6 was paid, on his return to France, he advertised for settlers to come to New Zealand and ceded his interest in the land to the Nanto-Bordelaise Company, of which he became a part owner. On 9 March 1840,63 emigrants left from Rochefort, the settlers embarked on the Comte de Paris – an old man-of-war ship given to them by the French government – for New Zealand. The French arrived in Akaroa on 18 August and established a settlement, the area still has a French influence, reflected in many local placenames. Before 1840, the area of the current Akaroa town was known as Wangaloa. Archived from the original on 14 April 2006, Akaroa official website Akaroa Street Map Akaroa Civic Trust
9.
Canterbury, New Zealand
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Canterbury is a region of New Zealand, located in the central-eastern South Island. The region covers an area of 44,508 square kilometres, the region in its current form was established in 1989 during nationwide local government reforms. The Kaikoura District joined the region in 1992 following the abolition of the Nelson-Marlborough Regional Council, Christchurch, the South Islands largest city and the countrys third-largest urban area, is the seat of the region and home to 65 percent of the regions population. Other major towns and cities include Timaru, Ashburton, Rangiora, in 1848, Edward Gibbon Wakefield, a Briton, and John Robert Godley, an Anglo-Irish aristocrat, founded the Canterbury Association to establish an Anglican colony in the South Island. The colony was based upon theories developed by Wakefield while in prison for eloping with a woman not-of-age, due to ties to the prestigious Oxford University, the Canterbury Association succeeded in raising sufficient funds and recruiting middle-class and upper-class settlers. In April 1850, a group led by Godley landed at Port Cooper—modern-day Lyttelton Harbour—and established a port, housing. In December 1850, the first wave of 750 settlers arrived at Lyttelton in a fleet of four ships, following 1850, the provinces economy developed with the introduction of sheep farming. The Canterbury regions tussock plains in particular were suitable for sheep farming. Since they were valued by settlers for their meat and wool. By the 1860s, this figure had risen to three million, during this period, the architect Benjamin Mountfort designed many civic and ecclesiastical buildings in the Gothic Revival style. The Canterbury Province was formed in 1853 following the passing of the New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 and it was formed from part of New Munster Province and covered the middle part of the South Island, stretching from the east coast to the west coast. The province was abolished, along with provinces of New Zealand. The modern Canterbury Region has slightly different boundaries, particularly in the north and it is New Zealands largest region by area, with an area of 45,346 km2. Canterbury was traditionally bounded in the north by the Conway River, to the west by the Southern Alps, the area is commonly divided into North Canterbury, Mid Canterbury, South Canterbury and Christchurch City. Canterbury is home to 600,100 people according to Statistics New Zealands June 2016,13 percent of New Zealands population and it the most populous in the South Island and the second most populous region in New Zealand. The median age of Canterburys population is 39.9 years, around 15.5 percent of the population is aged 65 or over while 18.7 percent is aged under 15. There are 97.5 males for every hundred females in Canterbury, just under 20 percent of Canterburys population was born overseas, compared to 25 percent for New Zealand as a whole. The British Isles remains the largest region of origin, accounting for 36.5 percent of the population in Canterbury
10.
Birdling's Flat
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Birdlings Flat, originally named Te Mata Hapuku, is a settlement in Canterbury, New Zealand, close to the shore of Lake Ellesmere / Te Waihora. Birdlings Flat also commonly refers to the pebble beach that is part of Kaitorete Spit. The beach is known as a place to find small agates. Due to strong currents, swimming and surfing is not advised. Birdlings Flat is named for the Birdling family, who were the first European Settlers to farm the area, william Birdling was the first member of the Birdling family to arrive in New Zealand. He was employed by George Rhodes in 1843 to come to Banks Peninsula, william built a house, Waikoko, in the area which was later to bear his name. On 16 May 1882, a branch railway was opened to Birdlings Flat from a junction with the Southbridge Branch in Lincoln. This line became known as the Little River Branch, with the extension to Little River opened on 11 March 1886, the railway served Birdlings Flat until its closure on 30 June 1962. The railways old formation remained well preserved and has now been revitalised into a walking and cycling track. It has been used as a site for sounding rockets. The University of Canterbury has a research station based there. Hectors dolphins live along the beach in notable numbers, and whales, fur seals, much rarer whales and elephant seals are known to appear to cavort, the Reed Dictionary of New Zealand Place Names. Encyclopedia Astronautica - Birdlings Flat University of Canterbury - Birdlings Flat radars
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