The sign on the foreshore of Port Albert (Albertland) reads:

‘Port Albert was a centre for the non-conformist church settlement sponsored by the Albertland Special Settlement Association which was set up in Birmingham in 1861. In October 1862 the sailing vessels Hanover and Matilda Wattenbach arrived at Auckland with the first settlers, who went by various routes to land surveyed round the Arapaoa, Otamatea and Oruawharo Rivers. More immigrant ships followed but isolation and difficulties of access hindered progress and the original plans for a township at Port Albert were thwarted.’