Wellington harbour is a notoriously tricky spot and there are hundreds of wrecks in and around it. The Cook Strait was remarkably flat for us despite its reputation; apparently it is a unique marine location where high tide occurs at one end of the Strait at the same time as low tide at the other, giving rise to huge tidal flows, presently being exploited for commercial tidal turbine electricity generation. Combined with unusual wind movements around the mountains the ‘wind against tide’ phenomenon is often very pronounced – but thankfully not today!
We had been looking forward to coming here, once Christchurch - fatefully - had been deleted from the programme. Uncle Bob had inaugurated the Picton/Wellington ferry service and we had all grown up with stories about the building of the first New Zealand Ro-Ro ferry being constructed in the UK and sailed out to NZ when he was Chairman of the Picton Harbour Board. But could we find any references to this in the harbour?
Breakfast on our balcony was out of the question – far too cold – so we watched the sail-in from inside the stateroom!! No wind/tide problems in here for this ship and we were alongside the commercial quay in no time, right next to huge stockpiles of logged timber ready for export and ‘The Cake Tin’ New Zealand Rugby Stadium. A shuttle bus to town and we could have been in any major City in the World! The cable car (surely not another one – ed) took us up to the Botanical Gardens with its tremendous views over the City and harbour, but we couldn’t resist a quick look round the Cable Car Museum and a look at the Observatory. Did you know that Wellington has more private cable car installations than any other city in the World? No – neither did we until we watched the film! Apparently it’s the only way to access and exploit the building sites.
Famous for its begonia and rose collections the Gardens provide a lovely walk back to the town in the cool breeze, through magnificent groves and manicured beds and part of the town’s C19th cemetery with Victorian monuments and over the motorway footbridge, serenaded by noisy cicadas. Pausing only to realize that I had left the spare camera battery in its charger and to watch an over of a local cricket match we ambled down for a light lunch in the sun at the café by the Begonia House.
Having a bit of spare time we decided to have a look at The Waterfront, where the old docks (wonderful cast-iron gates made in Dunedin) have been redeveloped into a waterside leisure park, a bit like Hull Marina or St Katherine’s. Passing the Kiwi Acrobatic circus and over a little bridge where the body-art Mermaid Convention was taking place, we came across the oldest surviving, working floating steam crane in the World! Built in Glasgow by Sir William Arroll & Co this amazing ship sailed under its own steam from Glasgow to Wellington in 1926 – one wouldn’t have thought it could have safely crossed the Solent.
Suddenly – by now ready for a cuppa - we came across the Wellington Quay and Maritime Museum; this HAD to be the place to find out about the Aramoana and sure enough, inside this magnificent museum there was lots about the Wahiki disaster and the construction and operation of the Aramoana – but no mention of Bob – even the Builder’s Plate from the ship and photos of her plunging into some enormous seas.
The Museum was the Harbour Board Office and has a beautifully carved Karri staircase (‘WHB’ formed by brass round-head tacks on each step in the leather treads) and an impressive Boardroom with photos of all the Board Chairmen on its walls.
Wellington is on the same unstable tectonic plate as, and is in fact, more prone to earthquakes than Christchurch, so when the building was recently renovated it was underpinned and structurally isolated from a new foundation in order to reduce damage caused by earthquakes – let’s hope this works when the ‘quake happens.
Everyone in New Zealand has been touched in some way by the events in Christchurch, but they seem to have put it to one side and carry on with a stoical attitude to fate.
We are now sailing up the East coast of North Island at a leisurely 16 knots to make Auckland in the morning. We are almost at 180deg East, so diametrically across the World from the UK – amazing. The sun is out, there are a few ships and the coast is mistily about 25 miles off to Port; the Boss is sunbathing on our balcony! We have just passed Gisborn where James Cook first set foot on New Zealand and Young Nick's Head, named after his cabin boy who spotted land from the masthead.
Tomorrow we have arranged to meet Michael Dossor who is, amongst other things, a Director of Cunard’s shipping agent in Auckland so has managed to get a Visitor Pass onto the ship! Hopefully a little NZ Sauvignon Blanc for lunch before our World Cruise Guest Dinner at The Sky City Convention Centre in the evening, hosted by Peter Shanks (the Cunard CEO who has been on board since Sydney) and Commodore Warner the skipper of QM2. No wonder service and shows have been better this week!
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| Garden path |
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| Albatross |
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| Wellington Observatory |
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| Aramoana's Plate |
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| The story |
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| Aramoana |
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| Begonia House |
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| Boss & begonias |
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| Botanical gardens |
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| Cable car museum |
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| Cable car |
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| Courtesy flags |
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| Local cricket |
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| Harbour view |
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| Duck pond |
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| Harbour Board Offices |
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| Crane |
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| Incoming ferry |
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| Major export |
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| Marina |
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| Mermaid convention |
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| Mermaid convention |
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| Aus - NZ |
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| New Zealand |
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| Sunset |
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| P and the 'Krupp Gun' |
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| Picton ferry |
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| Harbour View |
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| Rose Garden |
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| Sector Chart |
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| Spot the cicada |
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| Sunset |
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| The 'Cake Tin' |
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| Tug escort |
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| Cable car |
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| Waterfront canoe race |
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| The Waterfront |
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| Young Nick's Head |
