Lyttelton travel guide

Lyttelton is a port town on the north shore of Lyttelton Harbour next to Banks Peninsula, 12 km by road from Christchurch on the eastern coast of the South Island of New Zealand. According to the 2001 census, the usually-resident population of Lyttelton (including neighbouring bays such as Rapaki and Corsair Bay) was 3,042.
The town is linked to Christchurch by railway and road tunnels through the Port Hills. At 1.9 km long, the Lyttelton Road Tunnel (opened in 1964) is the country's longest road tunnel; and the railway tunnel of the Main South Line, officially opened on 1867-12-09, is the country's oldest.
The harbour is an inlet on the north-western side of Banks Peninsula, extending 18 km inland from the southern end of Pegasus Bay. It is surrounded by steep hills formed from the sides of an extinct volcanic crater, which rise to a height of 500 m. Several smaller settlements are dotted along the shore of the harbour, notably Governors Bay and Diamond Harbour. A small island, Quail Island, sits in the upper harbour south-west of Lyttelton.
A home for Māori for about 700 years, Lyttelton, or Te whaka raupo was discovered by European settlers on 1770-02-16 during the Endeavour's first voyage to New Zealand. The earliest evidence of a human presence in the area are moa bones dating from approx 1250.
In August 1849 it was officially proclaimed a port.
Lyttelton was formerly called Port Cooper and Port Victoria. It was the original settlement in the district (1850). The name Lyttelton was given to it in honour of George William Lyttelton of the Canterbury Association, which had led the colonisation of the area. (...) more....

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