Duvauchelle facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Duvauchelle
Duvauchelle Post Office (c. 1921)
Rural settlement area within Christchurch City Council boundaries
Duvauchelle Location in South Island Show map of South Island Duvauchelle Location in New Zealand Show map of New Zealand
Country	New Zealand
Region	Canterbury Region
District	Christchurch City
Ward	Banks Peninsula
Community	Te Pātaka o Rākaihautū Banks Peninsula
Electorates	Banks Peninsula Te Tai Tonga (Māori)
Area
• Total	1.65 km2 (0.64 sq mi)
Population  (June 2023)
• Total	200
• Density	121/km2 (310/sq mi)

The old Robinsons Bay Post Office, around 1912.

Duvauchelle Bay (called Kaitouna in Māori) is a small town in New Zealand. It sits at the very end of Akaroa Harbour on Banks Peninsula. The main road, State Highway 75, goes right through the town. A piece of land called the Ōnawe Peninsula separates Duvauchelle Bay from Barry's Bay.

Duvauchelle is now part of the Christchurch City Council area. This happened in 2006 when Christchurch City joined with the Banks Peninsula District. For many years, from 1910 to 1989, Duvauchelle was the main office for the Akaroa County Council.

Duvauchelle's Rich History

The area where the Duvauchelle Hotel stands today, called Oinako, was once an ancient Māori pā. A pā is a fortified village or settlement. At Te Wharau creek, a group of Ngāti Awa warriors camped there in 1831. They were part of a taua, which means a war party.

The town and bay are named after two French brothers, Jules-Augustin and Louis-Benjamin Duvauchelle. They owned land here in the 1840s. This was when the French were settling in Akaroa.

Early European Settlers

In the 1850s, British settlers started leasing land around Duvauchelle Bay. One of them was William Augustus Gordon. He was the brother of a famous soldier, Charles George Gordon, known as "Gordon of Khartoum."

People began buying land in 1857. The main work back then was cutting down trees, especially tōtara trees, and sawing them into timber. Farmers also raised pigs in the forests, which mixed with the wild pigs already living there. As more trees were cut down, the land was turned into pasture for animals to graze.

The first settler at the "Head of the Bay," where the town is now, was a Frenchman named Libeau. He arrived in 1841. Like others, he focused on timber and building boats. All the cut timber was carried out of the bay on boats built right there.

Growing the Community

In the 1850s, a public house (like an inn or pub) and a shop were built. Local people also built a small building that was used as both a church and a school. This building was on land given by Lord Lyttelton.

Proper roads started to be built in the 1860s. In 1879, the County Council offices and the Post Office opened in Duvauchelle.

Earthquake Impact

The Duvauchelle Hotel and the post office were badly damaged by earthquakes in 2010 and 2011. The oldest parts of the hotel had to be pulled down. The rest of the building was fixed and reopened in September 2013 as a single-story hotel.

Who Lives in Duvauchelle?

Duvauchelle is considered a rural settlement by Statistics New Zealand. It covers about 1.65 square kilometers. In 2018, about 180 people lived there.

Boathouses in Duvauchelle.

The population of Duvauchelle was 180 people in the 2018 New Zealand census. This was a small decrease from 2013 but an increase from 2006. Most people living in Duvauchelle are of European (Pākehā) background. There are also smaller numbers of Māori, Pasifika, and Asian people.

Many people in Duvauchelle say they have no religion. Others identify as Christian.

Learning in Duvauchelle

Duvauchelle School is a primary school for children in Years 1 to 6. It was first opened in 1860.