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Concept
Kaikōura
Summary
Kaikōura (kaɪˈkɔːrə) is a town on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It is located on State Highway 1, 180 km north of Christchurch. The town has an estimated permanent resident population of (as of ).
The town is the governmental seat of the territorial authority of the Kaikōura District, which is politically a part of the Canterbury region. Kaikōura was the first local authority in the Southern Hemisphere to achieve recognition by the EarthCheck Community Standard.
The infrastructure of Kaikōura was heavily damaged in the 2016 Kaikōura earthquake, with one of the two deaths near the town. The bay and surrounding region were uplifted by as much as . In 2023, Kaikoura was named as one of the "most beautiful small towns in the world".
Māori have long been resident in Kaikōura and archeological evidence of moa bones suggesting that they hunted moa there. After the moa numbers declined, Kaikōura was still an attractive place to live with its abundance of sea food. Ngāi Tahu had been resident in the Kaikoura area since at least 1670. Numerous pā sites are located around Kaikōura. The numbers vary between 14 and 40.
Captain James Cook saw Kaikōura in 1770 but did not land there. He reported seeing four double hulled canoes approaching HMS Endeavour containing 57 Māori.
In 1827–1828, Kaikōura was the site of the battle of Niho Maaka, between musket-armed Ngāti Toa (led by Te Rauparaha) and the Ngāti Kūri people of Ngāi Tahu. Several hundred Ngāi Tahu were killed or captured. Ngāi Tahu were surprised by the Ngati Toa raiding party, as they were expecting a visit from the Ngāti Kahungunu sub-tribe Tū-te-pākihi-rangi, with whom they were friends. Only those Ngāti Kūri who fled to the hills survived. The name of the battle comes from a threat made by Rerewaka, one of the Kaikōura chiefs, who said he would slit Te Rauparaha's belly with a shark tooth (niho maaka) if he came south.
A whaling station was first established by Robert Fyffe in 1842 at Kaikōura. The Fyffe family was the first European family to settle in Kaikōura.
Official source
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