This small church on the Onuku Maori reserve near Akaroa is the only tangible reminder of the once thriving Maori community. Completed in 1878 the church was planned to accommodate sixty people and though primarily for the Maori local, Pakeha settlers were also welcome.

A plain timber building with steeply pitched shingle roof its religious purpose is denoted by the tiny bell turret and surmounting crosses. It is picturesquely set in the bay on Akaroa Harbour and is enclosed by a delightfully unregimented picket fence.

Despite infrequent use the church is carefully maintained and is in excellent order. It is important as a memorial to the Onuku Maori and as the only Maori Church remaining on Banks Peninsula.

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A tiny church built in 1878. You’ll find it unlocked, perched on a hill overlooking the water in Ōnuku village, about 5 minutes drive south of Akaroa. It was the site where the first signatures from iwi in the South Island were collected for the Treaty of Waitangi, and the first non-denominational church in New Zealand. It’s gorgeous and quaint, and the people who look after it are really nice.