Daily Photo – Wrights Lookout on Banks Peninsula

The next morning I started the day by heading into the hills high above Akaroa on Banks Peninsula. On the map, I spotted a place called ‘Wrights Lookout.’ It’s one of those spots where the road feels like it’s deciding whether to keep going or give up. The harbour appears suddenly, far below, as if you’ve stumbled into an aerial photograph.

My guess is that it’s named after a family with the surname ‘Wright,’ who were likely early farmers or landowners in the area. On Banks Peninsula, this was the standard way places were named; features often took the surname of whoever farmed, owned, or lived on the surrounding run. In the early years of the settlement, I’m sure the family spent many an hour leaning on a fence post, watching the sheep, wind, and weather, doing what farmers do, probably never thinking they were creating a landmark.