Author(s): Colin Amodeo; Paul Croucher; Kaiapoi Maritime Heritage Trust Staff (Contribution by)

NZ Maritime | North & Mid Canterbury

A detailed account of the port at Kaiapoi has been long overdue. In 2017, the Kaiapoi Maritime Heritage Trust decided it was time to record over 160 years of shipping and boating on the Waimakariri and Kaiapoi Rivers. This story begines with early 19th Century accounts of Ngai Tahu commerce before the arrival of European settlers and continues the Kaiapoi story up to the present day. This is a lively account of human endeavor on an often-wild river with a difficult and dangerous entrance which could defeat eveb the best of ships' masters and crews.