Green Island, New Zealand
Encyclopedia
Green Island is an island off the coast of Dunedin
, New Zealand
, also the name of one of the city's suburbs. The suburb is not on the sea — formerly a borough, it took its name from the Green Island bush, uncleared native forest extending from the valley where the town is centred over the hills towards the coast. The offshore island's name was used to identify the bush.
The island's Māori name is Okaihae.
It may be the 'Isle of Wight' where the Sydney sealer Brothers, chartered by Robert Campbell
and sailing under Robert Mason dropped eight men of a gang of eleven in November 1809. William Tucker
who later settled at Whareakeake (Murdering Beach) near Otago Heads was in the gang. Alternatively the 'Isle of Wight' may be Taieri Island a few kilometres to the south. It has been suggested in that case Green Island may be 'Ragged Rock' where the other three men of the Brothers' gang were landed. Some of the men claimed to have stayed on these two islands from 9 November 1809 until 20 December 1810.
Green Island used to be called St Michael's Mount, suggesting it had been named after the island of that name off the Cornish coast. It is more likely it was so named after Tommy Chaseland's mother ship the St. Michael when he was sealing here in the 1820s. He told Edward Shortland he lost a boat and all its hands when it was dashed on the island while trying to land. He stayed alone overnight and was picked up by another boat the following day.
In the 1880s the island was mined for guano, bird dung used as fertiliser.
, is on State Highway 1
8 km (5 mi) west of the Dunedin CBD, at 45.90306°N 170.434384°W. It has a population (2001) of 2,430. Green Island's main economy is based on light and small scale heavy industry.
, is Abbotsford. Abbotsford is an entirely residential suburb with virtually no retail or service sector of its own - for these it relies on Green Island which lies only some 300 metres to the south. Abbotsford has a population of 1,677.
occurred in Abbotsford, resulting in the destruction or relocation of some 69 houses, and requiring the evacuation of over 600 people. No-one was killed. This remains the largest landslip to have occurred in an urban area of New Zealand.
immediately to the south were bypassed by a motorway extension in 2002.
Dunedin
Dunedin is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the principal city of the Otago Region. It is considered to be one of the four main urban centres of New Zealand for historic, cultural, and geographic reasons. Dunedin was the largest city by territorial land area until...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, also the name of one of the city's suburbs. The suburb is not on the sea — formerly a borough, it took its name from the Green Island bush, uncleared native forest extending from the valley where the town is centred over the hills towards the coast. The offshore island's name was used to identify the bush.
The island
Green Island is a small uninhabited island located at 45.952955°N 170.387113°W, 13 km (8.1 mi) southwest of Dunedin, close to the mouth of the Kaikorai Lagoon.The island's Māori name is Okaihae.
It may be the 'Isle of Wight' where the Sydney sealer Brothers, chartered by Robert Campbell
Robert Campbell
-Politicians:*Robert Campbell , Australian merchant/politician from New South Wales*Robert Campbell , New South Wales politician, son of the above*Robert Campbell , New York politician...
and sailing under Robert Mason dropped eight men of a gang of eleven in November 1809. William Tucker
William Tucker (settler)
William Tucker was a British convict, a sealer, a trader in human heads, an Otago settler, and New Zealand’s first art dealer....
who later settled at Whareakeake (Murdering Beach) near Otago Heads was in the gang. Alternatively the 'Isle of Wight' may be Taieri Island a few kilometres to the south. It has been suggested in that case Green Island may be 'Ragged Rock' where the other three men of the Brothers' gang were landed. Some of the men claimed to have stayed on these two islands from 9 November 1809 until 20 December 1810.
Green Island used to be called St Michael's Mount, suggesting it had been named after the island of that name off the Cornish coast. It is more likely it was so named after Tommy Chaseland's mother ship the St. Michael when he was sealing here in the 1820s. He told Edward Shortland he lost a boat and all its hands when it was dashed on the island while trying to land. He stayed alone overnight and was picked up by another boat the following day.
In the 1880s the island was mined for guano, bird dung used as fertiliser.
Green Island suburb
Green Island, since 1989 officially an outer suburb of DunedinDunedin
Dunedin is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the principal city of the Otago Region. It is considered to be one of the four main urban centres of New Zealand for historic, cultural, and geographic reasons. Dunedin was the largest city by territorial land area until...
, is on State Highway 1
State Highway 1 (New Zealand)
State Highway 1 is the longest and most significant road in the New Zealand roading network, running the length of both main islands. It appears on road maps as SH 1 and on road signs as a white number 1 on a red shield, but it has the official designations SH 1N in the North Island, SH 1S in the...
8 km (5 mi) west of the Dunedin CBD, at 45.90306°N 170.434384°W. It has a population (2001) of 2,430. Green Island's main economy is based on light and small scale heavy industry.
Abbotsford
Immediately to the north of Green Island, and only separated from it by the State Highway and South Island Main Trunk RailwaySouth Island Main Trunk Railway
The Main North Line between Picton and Christchurch and the Main South Line between Lyttelton and Invercargill, running down the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand, are sometimes together referred to as the South Island Main Trunk Railway...
, is Abbotsford. Abbotsford is an entirely residential suburb with virtually no retail or service sector of its own - for these it relies on Green Island which lies only some 300 metres to the south. Abbotsford has a population of 1,677.
The Abbotsford landslip
On the night of August 8, 1979, a major landslideLandslide
A landslide or landslip is a geological phenomenon which includes a wide range of ground movement, such as rockfalls, deep failure of slopes and shallow debris flows, which can occur in offshore, coastal and onshore environments...
occurred in Abbotsford, resulting in the destruction or relocation of some 69 houses, and requiring the evacuation of over 600 people. No-one was killed. This remains the largest landslip to have occurred in an urban area of New Zealand.
Sunnyvale
At the southern end of Abbotsford is the smaller suburb of Sunnyvale. This was until the early 2000s the site of the main road routh south out of Dunedin, but it and FairfieldFairfield, Otago
The quiet suburb of Fairfield lies 10 kilometres to the west of Dunedin CBD, in Otago, southern New Zealand.Fairfield lies in rolling hill country between Abbotsford and the Taieri Plains, close to the slopes of Saddle Hill and Scroggs Hill...
immediately to the south were bypassed by a motorway extension in 2002.