Quail Island Adventure

(Code : NZ1042) Buy Gift Voucher | Book Now | Enquire Now

Spend a fascinating half-day exploring Quail Island. Named after the now extinct native Quail (koreke) by Captain William Mein Smith, the island was originally used as a quarantine station and as a small leprosy colony by the early European settlers.

At the same time as the lepers were confined to their one small bay, Antarctic explorers, Scott and Shackleton took advantage of the island to train their sled dogs and ponies before setting off on their ill-fated voyages. The last polar explorer to quarantine dogs on the island was American Commander Byrd, whose huskies were interned on the island between 1928 and 1930.

From 1934 till 1975 Quail Island was leased out for farming, and then converted to a recreational reserve. Today the focus is on restoring native vegetation and the island is home to many native birds including the fantail, kingfisher, silvereye and many sea birds including the rare white flippered little blue penguins.

Take your lunch and swimming costumes with you for a great family day out.

Highlights

Walkway- the Quail Island Walkway starting at the new wharf offers a circumference walk (2 hours round trip), and a shorter one-hour option. The easy walk takes in a view of the shipwrecks, leprosy graves and the kennels used for Scott's quarantined dogs.

Volcanic Cliffs - there are excellent examples of volcanic cliffs, which show how the island was formed 16 million years ago.

The Wards Settlement- the Ward brothers bought part of Quail Island in 1851 and erected a small cottage. They farmed the island for just 2 months before tragedy struck; the 2 brothers where drowned taking firewood to the island.

Ballast Quarries- early sailing ships arriving into Lyttelton often had to load up on return journeys with ballast rocks to keep their ships stable. Two sites on the island can be seen where tonnes of rock was taken from 1850 -1874.


Shipwrecks- Investigate 8 shipwrecks, which can be seen on the western side of the island.


Leprosy Colony- in 1907 the island was home to the first and only leprosy colony in New Zealand. One lonely soul died here and his grave can be viewed on the island. Up to 9 patients were housed here at its peak.


Antarctic Links- Robert Falcon Scott used Quail Island for quarantining and training dogs, ponies and mules for his Antarctic expeditions in 1901 and again prior to his ill-fated expedition to the South Pole in 1910. A replica kennel can be seen. Ernst Shackleton also used the island for this purpose in 1907.


Human and Animal Quarantines- in 1874 a quarantine station was built to isolate those immigrants who had spent 3 months at sea in cramped conditions with lack of fresh food and exercise. These conditions increased chances of disease and sickness. All imported stock from England had to be quarantined before arriving in Lyttelton.

Maori Use- the island was used for the collection of food - seabird eggs and fishing mostly by Maori children. The Maori name for the island is Otamahua, which means 'place to gather sea-bird eggs'.

The Quails- in 1842, the first European to set foot on the island, Captain Mein Smith, flushed a number of now-extinct native quail from the bush and named the island after the birds.