Antarctic Explorers Train Sled Dogs on Quail Island

Between 1928 and 1930, American Commander Byrd interned his huskies right here on Quail Island. This island, Ōtamahua, was a training ground for Antarctic explorers like Scott and Shackleton. They brought their sled dogs and ponies here before their voyages.

It's an inner harbour island, and you can get here by ferry or kayak from Lyttelton. The walks are pretty easy, good for families, and you can spend a full or half-day exploring. You can even stay the night.

The island is 81 hectares, sitting in the flooded crater of Lyttelton’s extinct volcano. You can see beautiful scenery, walk the tracks, and there's some wildlife. There's also a ship's graveyard and historical sites like the Antarctic Sled Dog Kennels.

Captain William Mein Smith named it Quail Island after the now-extinct native quail, or koreke. It was originally a quarantine station and even a small leprosy colony for early European settlers. Lepers were confined to just one small bay.

From 1934 until 1975, the island was leased for farming. Now it's a recreational reserve, and they're working on restoring native vegetation. You can spot native birds like fantails, kingfishers, silvereyes, and even rare white-flippered little blue penguins.

Māori knew this place as Ōtamahua, which means ‘place to gather sea-bird eggs’. Europeans started farming here in 1851, but it became more important after 1874. That’s when the provincial government started using it as a quarantine station, especially with Sir Julius Vogel’s assisted migration scheme bringing many immigrants to the southern provinces. New Zealand's European population grew from 60,000 in 1860 to 470,000 by 1881.

Ships with sick people had to raise a yellow flag and go into quarantine, which must have been a difficult introduction to a new country after three to five months at sea. It’s interesting to think that of the few immigration-related buildings surviving from that period, one is here on Quail Island.