Skip to main content

Kōrero: Nearshore islands

Te Awaiti, Arapawa Island

Image
Te Awaiti, Arapawa Island

Arapawa Island, near Tory Channel in the Marlborough Sounds, was the most long-lived whaling settlement in New Zealand history. John Guard set up a shore-based station at Te Awaiti in the late 1820s (the exact date is disputed). In 1911 an Italian fisherman, Joe Perano, revived whaling from the bay. These two whaling boats from that time have harpoonists at the ready. The Peranos continued whaling from Arapawa Island until 1964.

Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi

Alexander Turnbull Library

Reference: 1/2-027003

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

Ngā whakaahua me ngā rauemi katoa o tēnei kōrero

Me pēnei te tohu i te whārang

Eileen McSaveney, Nearshore islands – Early inhabitants, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/photograph/13020/te-awaiti-arapawa-island (accessed 5 June 2026).

He kōrero nā Eileen McSaveney, i tāngia i te 1 March 2009.