Saturday 30 April
After breakfast back
at the same restaurant, it was announced that the ferry from Wellington was
running half an hour late, but we would still go to the terminal and spend the
extra time there, as it was a more comfortable place to wait. We went for a walk
and took a few pictures (as you do), then boarded the bus and had a quick
five-minute drive to the harbour. As we pulled in I noticed that the Edwin
Fox Ship Museum was right beside us – a place
that I have long wanted to see. And here we are with an extra 30 minutes to
spare. It must be meant!
As soon as I had
confirmed the boarding time, and had my own ticket clutched in my hand, I
headed off with fingers crossed. Fortunately it opened at 9 am, and was only
ten past now, so I was able to have a good wander around the displays. The
building itself is built of Oamaru Stone, and the internal columns are made of
Australian Jarrah, taken from the old meatworks where the ship was used as a
coal-store.
This ship is the only
surviving Australian convict ship, as well as the only surviving Crimean War
troop transport. She has also made about four trips to New Zealand with
emigrants, before becoming a coal hulk, and then being left to rot. She really
is a very important and historic ship, and what a story she could tell. Timbers
at and above the tide-line have been partially or wholly eaten away, but those
which remained submerged have survived very well.
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| Down inside the hull |
Although the original
plan for the Edwin Fox was to restore her (I have to say, it feels funny
calling a ship with such a masculine name ‘her’!), the volunteers are now
focused on preservation instead, and it
certainly feels far more authentic walking on her than on the Euterpe,
which has been restored and touristified to the nth degree.
 | |
| The step for the mainmast |
It is possible to go
down to the very bottom
of the ship and walk around inside the hull, touching and stepping on
the original wooden floor. I got to feel the timbers, touch the mainmast and
the step it is set into, and smell the old odours the sailors and migrants must
have smelt. It was an amazing experience, better than seeing the Euterpe, and
even better than the Mary Rose, in that I could actually walk on board.
 |
| Timbers above the waterline have been eroded away quite badly |
 | |
| Original copper sheathing on the outside of the hull |
Back in time to board
the Aratere with the others, we settled in a foursome with Martyn and Linda, so I
could show her the basics of Legacy, my family history program. Afterwards we
went for a walk, had a bit of lunch and chatted to some of our friends, before
arriving in Wgtn just after 2 pm. We boarded the bus in the hold and drove off,
then pulled up outside the departure lounge where we first met the tour. After
a hurried farewell as eight of us left the bus for the last time, and hugs for
Wayne & Ellen, we grabbed a taxi for the journey to the YHA and quietly
collapsed in our room for a rest.
After a stroll along the waterfront, we picked up tea from New World, and had an early night.
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