Don’t miss today’s Treat Me deal offering half price adult and child tickets to Quail Island.
We only offer these once a year and when they have sold out, they’ve sold out. Whilst we usually start our Quail Island trips in October we will be kicking off early with these vouchers in time for the Christchurch and Canterbury school holidays next week! Hurrah!!
Whilst today Quail Island is a wonderful place for people of all ages, offering long coastal view walks, a fantastic family friendly swimming beach, cool old shipwrecks and an information hut the island itself has a very interesting past…..
Here are historic 5 facts from our friends at the Department of Conservation
- Captain Mein Smith named the island ‘Quail’ after seeing native quail here in 1842; they were extinct by 1875.
- The island was farmed briefly in 1851 by the Ward brothers – until two of the brothers drowned in the harbour – and then it passed through several hands until it was used as a Quarantine Station in 1875 for new immigrants.
- In 1907 a small leprosy colony was established on the island and housed several patients until 1925, when the remaining lepers were sent to Fiji.
- After the turn of the century, when Antarctic exploration was at its peak, the island was used to quarantine and train dogs and ponies for Scott and Shackleton’s expeditions.
- The island was declared a recreation reserve in 1975.
A little fact of our own….In the year 2000 Black Cat started cruising passengers from Lyttelton to Quail Island for fantastic Christchurch day trips! We think its a New Zealand must do if you’ve never been.
For more information on Quail Island click here
For our departure schedule information click here
If you grab and ticket and head over this summer we would love to see your pictures. Remember to tag them #blackcatcruises. Happy cruising 🙂
