New Zealand paddleboats

[kiwimodeller]

Roderick, the Tamati has moved to the Paeroa Maritime Museum at the small town of Paeroa which is upstream from the town of Thames. At one time the river was also known as the New Zealand River Thames. See my post about going for a ride on her back in March. The people who purchased her are also now in charge of running the museum although Hillary who has been involved for many years is still helping too. The building has been re-roofed with help from the local council and the interior of the building is being refurbished. The grounds have been tidied and the future for the whole place looks better than it has in some time. The remains of the Kopu are still there and we were shown through the sheds and I noticed a large twin cylinder steam engine which I presume came out of her. There are no plans to try and restore her.
Cheers, Ian V.

[Roderick Smith]

Hi all,
I got to photograph SWPV Lakeland Queen, but not to travel.
My group was in Rotorua for Friday night; the only dinner cruise was Saturday night.
Surprisingly it is running breakfast cruises: 7.00 & 8.00, and lunch cruises: 12.00 & 13.00.

I am in Auckland now, but no spare time until Wednesday.

Regards,
Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor

[kiwimodeller]

A pity you did not get the chance to come up Highway 2 from Rotorua to Auckland Roderick, If you had come via Tauranga, Waihi (where I live) and Paeroa we would have made time to go to Paeroa Maritime Museum. I was there today and the Tamati is out of the water on a large trailer. Something to do with their license to operate and the duck shooting season I believe! Dont waste  time with Waipa Delta which is now in Auckland, it is a fake paddler, but if you get a chance the National Maritime Museum is worth a visit, some parts of it have just had the displays re-done. Cheers, Ian.

[Roderick Smith]

We were travelling to a theatre in Putaruru and a cinema in Te Awamutu, then via two cinemas in Hamilton.
There was very little spare time in Auckland, and I have visited the excellent NMM before.
Caths is quite ecumenical about related technical hobbies.  Our program did include a morning cruise from Pahia (two-deck modern catamaran), a visit to the Waitangi Treaty site (lots of war canoes), and a lunch cruise on Waitemata Harbour (two 15 m sloops).

I enclose three marine photos, none of which is a paddlesteamer.

Returning from Bay of Islands, we were on a state highway passing the site where the restoration of steam ferry (screw) Toroa is being undertaken.
This was a  grab shot in rain through the window of my minibus.
There had been an open day a couple of weeks earlier.
www.toroa.org.nz: information and data.

Returning from Devonport, some went on our minibuses; a few used a harbour ferry.  This is another grab shot in rain, of MV (fake PV) Waipa Delta.

While in Devonport, apart from our inspection of Victoria Theatre, I got photos of preserved steam tug William C Daldy, and of Esplanade Hotel.  The tug runs only seasonally, and it was undergoing off-season maintenance.
http://daldy.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_C_Daldy
www.nzmaritimeindex.org.nz/nzmdaldy.htm

I have added the sailing photo too, to show that we had some excellent weather in Auckland, and not just rain.
www.explorenz.co.nz/Pride-of-Auckland/index.html

Regards,
Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor

[Harold H. Duncan]

And you didn't swing past the ps Rangiriri, in between your 2 theatre visits in Hamilton
kiwi

[Roderick Smith]

Follow up 2013 news of PV Otunui, and a new video, at:
www.paddleducks.co.uk/smf/index.php?topic=6379.0

Is there any news on PV Tamati, now at Paeroa?

Here is a bit on the preservation of the remains of PS Rangariri at Hamilton, mentioned a few posts earlier in this thread.

Post edit a day later: I forgot to include the bit.  Here it is.
<www.waikatomuseum.co.nz/page/pageid/2145844142> with a photo of an early restoration stage.
PS Rangiriri.
Historic paddle boatRangiriri is Hamilton's historic paddle steamer. Measuring 24.5 x 6.5 metres it was shipped, assembled and launched at Port Waikato in 1864, initially brought in as a gun boat.
Rangiriri was mainly used as a steam tug pulling barges along Waikato River.
Now a wreck, in recent years a project has been put in place to restore this piece of Waikato history. In 1981 a Department of Labour work scheme excavated and undertook a survey of the vessel. Then in 1982, the vessel was pulled further up the bank ready for preservation and restoration work.
The Waikato Museum and Parks and Gardens departments of Hamilton City Council worked together for the planning of preservation, development of seating area and interpretation.
The rudder and other pieces of the vessel are now in the Museum collection and the wreck is listed in Council's District Plan as a significant heritage item.

Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor

[kiwimodeller]

I have not stopped in at the Paeroa Maritime Museum while passing recently but for a while the Tamati was sitting beside the building on her trailer. I will check on her whereabouts next time I go through. Cheers, Ian.

[Roderick Smith]

I never did post my photos, as they are similar to a couple from an earlier poster.
I have just prepared them for two new marine groups in Australia, so have them here too.
See also: <www.lakelandqueen.com>

BoatsDownUnder-BDU is one of a set of sites from the one organiser, covering trains, trams, aircraft and boats.  Each has a yahoo version and a facebook version.
Facebook has the greatest amount of traffic, and is appealing to new blood in the four hobbies, mainly older teenagers and young 20s, but several famous names from the past have taken the plunge.  I find that its main problem is not lack of privacy, or even anonymous abuse.  There is no indexing, material scrolls way down very fast, and there is a curfew where each new photo wipes out an older one.  It is good for immediate dissemination of news, and the large pool of keen young ones are very much into instant reporting from mobile phones in the field.
The four have about 80% Australian content, with a good mix of states, and welcome overseas photos too (Australians travelling abroad, and overseas members learning about Australia, and sending items from their own countries).
boatsdownunder-bdu@yahoogroups.com
Subscribe:boatsdownunder-bdu-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
This covers all aspects of boating in Australia: commercial ferries large & small, preserved boats, private vessels, naval vessels.  The railway and tramway ones have occasional photos of models (ie of trains/trams).

I also took the opportunity to add the bit two posts up which I forgot to include yesterday.

Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor