Te Onepoto / Taylors Mistake is an area in New Zealand's

South Island The South Island ( , 'the waters of Pounamu, Greenstone') is the largest of the three major islands of New Zealand by surface area, the others being the smaller but more populous North Island and Stewart Island. It is bordered to the north by ...

, at the southeastern extremity of the city of

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

Taylors Mistake is a bay adjacent to the locality, on the north side of Awaroa / Godley Head, on the northern edge of

Banks Peninsula Banks Peninsula () is a rocky peninsula on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand that was formed by two now-extinct volcanoes. It has an area of approximately . It includes two large deep-water harbours — Lyttelton Harbour a ...

Toponymy

The name Te Onepoto / Taylors Mistake is one of New Zealand's dual placenames. The

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

portion, Te Onepoto, means short or little beach. For the English portion, the ''

Lyttelton Times The ''Lyttelton Times'' was the first newspaper in Canterbury, New Zealand, Canterbury, New Zealand, publishing the first edition in January 1851. It was established by the Canterbury Association as part of its planned community, planned settlem ...

'' in 1865 said it was "originally called Vincent's Bay, and more recently Taylor's Mistake." The name "Taylor's Mistake" originated from an incident involving a man named Edward Taylor, who was the first European settler to own land in the area. The story goes that in the mid-19th century, Edward Taylor was surveying the coastline for potential land to purchase. He mistook the bay near what is now known as Taylors Mistake for the nearby Pigeon Bay, which he intended to buy. However, upon realizing his mistake, he continued to call the area "Taylor's Mistake." Over time, the name stuck, and it became the official name for the bay and surrounding area.

Baches

There are almost 50 small century-old seaside baches remaining on the coastal strip between Hobsons Bay to the north, and Boulder Bay to the south. Some are cave baches, with Whare Moki being considered the oldest surviving example in New Zealand. Most of the baches were, in 1995 or 2016, recognised as heritage assets by either Heritage NZ or by the Christchurch City Council under the resource management act. The baches appear in vernacular works of art and poetry, including a 1956 painting by

Bill Sutton (artist) William Alexander Sutton (1 March 1917 – 23 January 2000) was a New Zealand portrait and landscape artist. History Sutton was born in Sydenham, Christchurch and attended Christchurch Boys High School. He became interested in art at an ear ...

held at the

Christchurch Art Gallery The Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū, commonly known as the Christchurch Art Gallery, is the public art gallery of the city of Christchurch, New Zealand. It has its own substantial art collection and also presents a programme of New ...

Beach

The beach is popular with swimmers and surfers, and a livecam operated by some of the bach-holders allows conditions to be checked in advance. The Taylors Mistake Surf Life Saving Club was established at the beach, by bach-holders and others, in 1916. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, hills above the beach were fortified with two machine gun posts, to guard the Godley Head coastal defence battery.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Te Onepoto Taylors Mistake Bays of the Canterbury Region Populated places in the Canterbury Region Populated coastal places in New Zealand