Decanter Bay
Decanter Bay is a bay on the northern coast of Banks Peninsula in Canterbury, New Zealand, between Little Akaloa and Menzies Bay.
History
Prior to European settlement, the bay was the location of a Māori pā. In the Māori language the bay is called Te Kakaho, which references the knuckled stem of a reed.The first European settler of the bay was Thomas Duncan, a disgraced Scottish lawyer who operated a dairy farm in the bay for five years. He had eloped with his ward, Eliza, and so was keeping a low profile for some time. He later moved to Lyttelton and then Christchurch, where he founded Duncan Cotterill Law in 1857 with his friend Henry Cotterill.
The name of the bay comes from a specific rock that was situated on the eastern headland of the bay. The rock had the shape of a decanter, but the 'stopper' at the top of the rock fell off in the 1880s due to erosion.
During the 1870s, the bay was the location of a steam sawmill that processed cut lumber from the bay. The settlement was large enough to have a post office, with twice-weekly deliveries of mail by sea from Lyttelton. After the bay had been deforested, the population dwindled.
Geography
Decanter Bay is on the north-eastern shore of Banks Peninsula. The next bay, a short way to the south-east, is Little Akaloa / Whakaroa. Coastal features to the north-west include Squally Bay, Otohuao Head, and Menzies Bay.Duncan Stream runs down the valley and meets the ocean on the northern side of the bay. The stream runs by the nearest major hilltop on the north side of the valley, simply called Graeme, which has an altitude of above sea level. Vehicle access is via Decanter Bay Road, which crosses Brockworth Ridge from Little Akaloa. the road is unsealed from the top of Brockworth down into Decanter Bay. The land is privately owned, with waterfront access only by permission of the landowners.
Ecology
The north-western side of the valley is a Site of Ecological Significance in the Christchurch District Plan. The area is a mixture of original native forest, tussock grassland, and cleared pasture. The valley is home to a number of at risk or naturally uncommon plants and insects.Bird life in the valley includes bellbirds, grey warblers, Swamp harrier, fantails and silvereyes.
Like many bays on Banks Peninsula, Decanter Bay is a habitat for endangered Hector's dolphins. A 2024 acoustic study found that Decanter Bay logged more dolphin activity than other nearby bays.