Rich in human history, the story of this area began with the arrival of the ancestors of today's Māori people. Hunting the southern right whale, Europeans arrived over 600 years later. Today this house, along with the stories it tells of a developing town and the three families that lived here, are all that remains of the "Waiopuka Fishery", Robert Fyfe's whaling station that was established in 1842.
The earliest part of the House is the single storied wing which sits on whale vertebrae foundations. It was originally built by Robert Fyfe for his cooper, who made barrels in which the whale oil was transported and stored. Robert Fyfe drowned in 1854 and his cousin George Fyffe (spelled with a double f, and after whom the House was named) managed the whaling station and associated farming activities. George built the rest of the House in two stages, the southern end in 1857 and it was completed in the early 1860s when he married his wife Catherine.
Activities
Kaikoura, Central Kaikoura
