This name-less reserve sits above the Cashmere Hills Presbyterian Church on Dyers Pass Road. It was once used as a resting place – first for the Ngati Mamoe and then the Ngai Tahu.
Above this reserve is Sherwood Lane which is the location of Matuku-takotako – a cave that was used for shelter.
From leaving Putaringamotu (later named Riccarton by the Deans’ brothers in 1848) on the Canterbury Plains, they would rest here on their way home to Rapaki (meaning “pleasant aspect”) on Banks Peninsula where the Ngati Mamoe Pa and settlement were.
Rapaki is still found between Lyttelton and Governors Bay, a shadow of its former self. Two big fires in the late 1800’s destroyed the fine woods of the area.
It was also here in the 18th century that the Ngai Tahu ousted the Ngati Mamoe out of Rapaki. The Pa was renamed Ngati Wheke
*Photos taken by Annette Bulovic*
