New Zealand paddleboats

[Roderick Smith]

See 'List of paddlers' thread.
Enclosed: the front cover of the brochure advertising PV Tamati cruises on Lake Ianthe.  In Nov.05, I was on a cinema tour of NZ with Melbourne-based Cinema and Theatre Historical Society; at one of the home cinemas which we inspected we were treated to a home movie/video of a cruise on this charming vessel.

Built in 1902 for Spa Hotel on Lake Taupo, where it operated as a tourist cruise boat.  PV Tamati was sold to a private buyer in 1952, and was not seen until it was discovered in Paraparaumu in derelict condition by it's present owner Dave Hindman who bought the boat and rebuilt it using native timber from his sawmill. It now operates on Lake Ianthe as a tourist cruise boat once again.  It departs from Lake Ianthe jetty every hour, NZD15 adult fare, 40 min cruise, capacity 15 passengers

I don't have any photos of other NZ paddleboats, but several are covered by the excellent website www.riverboatsnz.com.  It mentions the fact that PV Otunui was damaged by fire in 2003, and is still out of service.

Information and links (but no photos) on PS Waimarie are in the thread (in this forum) 'New Zealand's pride, PS Waimarie', started in July 06.
In particular: www.riverboat.homestead.com, including /WaimarieSurvey.html and /Waimarie.html.

FPV Waipa Delta is based at Hamilton, on Waikato River.  See  www.waipadelta.co.nz.  It is powered by two V8 diesels, with water-jet drive.  The paddles are lazy ones, moved by the passage through the water.  NZ rivers tended to be even more shallow than Australian ones, and had gravel or rocky bottoms.  Boats were designed to be winched across shallow spots during normal operation.  The riverboatsnz site has photos showing tunnel-screw hulls: the screw is recessed into the hull, with water flow reaching it via an inclined inverted U groove.  This arrangement protected the screw when the vessel was scraping the river bottom.  There was an earlier boat based at Hamilton, which featured in a rare three-mode publicity photo in the 1930s: an aeroplane above a train on the river bridge, with a boat on the river below the bridge.  This was replicated in the 1970s with a modern triple set up.

Regards,
Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor

[Roderick Smith]

Warning: image b is 800 kB.  I didn't have the heart to split it into two smaller scans, and I wanted the thumbnails to be viewable.

Note the reference to feathering paddles.

Some notes from a website for tour operators:
Lake Ianthe Historic Cruises, a new tourism experience.
This activity can manage up to 40 at a time (ie two subgroups have morning tea on the shore, while 15 at a time make a 40 min cruise).
Open all year.
Short day trip cruises aboard the PV Tamati an Historic Side wheel paddle vessel.  Departs from the Lake Ianthe Jetty every hour $15 adult fare 40 min cruise tour.  Capacity 15 passengers.
100 year old side-wheeled paddle vessel, operating on Lake Ianthe.  Built in 1902 and owned by Spa Hotel in Lake Taupo where it operated as a tourist cruise boat.  PV Tamati was sold to a private owner in 1952 and not seen until it was discovered in Paraparaumu in derelict condition by it's present owner Dave Hindman who bought the boat and rebuilt it using native timber from his sawmill.  It now operates on Lake Ianthe as a tourist cruise boat once again.

The e-mail address is hindman@snapnet.nz

Apart from Waimarie, Otunui, Kopu & Tamati, surviving boats are SL or MV, not PS or PV.  I do have a few SL photos from NZ, so Paddleduckers making the long flight there will have plenty of interest to make the journey worthwhile.

Regards,
Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor

[rayman]

Rod, the montage you mention contains the stern wheeler "Manuwai" passing under the Hamilton rail bridge (built 1894-96) The earoplane is fake. Caesar Roose had friends in high places, with the co-operation of the minister for railways, the Rotorua Express was halted on the bridge for two minutes while Manuwai came thru, passing downstream. As these were open ended carriages, the guard locked all doors to stop any dare-devils getting out on the platforms. On clearing the bridge the guard then opened up. All passengers had been told of what was going to happen. Hamilton station was in those days a little more than the train length back in Ward Street. Manuwai was on an excursion to Ngaruawahia regatta and the photo taken about 7-45 in the morning. St Patricks Day 1929. The plane was added later and a story of transport made up to fit. This picture was used as publicity material by both N.Z.Railways and The Roose Shipping Co. It was published in "The Weekly News" May 1929 and the original hung in the Hamilton office of R.S.C. Hamilton until the yard and depot closed down 1973. nobody knows who got it from there.

[rayman]

and here is "KOPU" remains. I was over there two weeks ago but the museum is closed down,I intended to measure up Kopu to make a model. As can be seen, the boiler and shaft with wheel frames is intact, can not remember how much engine is there though.

[rayman]

and here is me (right ) on the stern wheeler "Rawhiti" my friend Manny Martin beside me and barely visible in for'd cargo door is Caesar Roose,owner, long time captain ,Skipper (billy) Wade at the helm. She was decommissioned in 1948, then used as a barge for many years before being put up on the bank where she can still be seen at Mercer. The other barge with her there is the composite (steel frames and deck) "Free Trader" built 1890 at Ngaruawahia as a barge and later fitted with engines and wheel from an earlier steamer "Rangiriri"

[Roderick Smith]

Fascinating photos Ray, but they do trigger more questions.
I am guessing that Rawhiti plied the lower Waikato River?  It seems to be very large for NZ conditions.

Please post some more history of this vessel, and of the one at Hamilton, and of Kopu.

Ray, if you were a worker on the paddleboats, could you please start typing up your memoirs of how you came to be involved, what you did, and what the boats were carrying (and where) in this era?

Any other kiwis who can add to the NZ thread?  I realise: there is text on Waimarie, but no photos on Paddleducks; likewise no photos of Otunui.  The only photos of Tamati are those in the publicity brochure.  Can anyone post some live photos?

Regards,
Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor

[rayman]

"KOPU"
   built 1897 by John Young at the Thames. N.Z. for R.Gibbons but purchased by The Northern Steamship Co. while building
 Steam-side-wheel--2 cyl simple engine 5 n.h.p.
 Dim. L 60' x 13' b x 3' draft. Beam over paddle boxes 24'
Built as a towing launch. After a long career towing on the Waihou-Piako and Ohinemuri rivers ( the Hauraki Plains) this little tug was apparently sunk by vandals while laid up in the Ohinemuri river in the mid 1930's.
She was raised in 1980 from her shallow grave and moved a few yards to where she lays today in the " Historical Maritime Park" Paeroa.

 Last year I posted on her and "kiwimodeller" offered to slip over and grab some pics and measurements for me but I have heard no more from him. Maybe the place was closed up then. My info from the book "Servants of the North" Cliff Furness,

[rayman]

WAIPA DELTA
  built by Max Monkley at Tauranga, trucked over and launched Nov. 1985
at Hamilton, Waikato river.
catamaran type app. 70" long--f-glass-- with 2x220 V8 Volvo engines driving Hamilto jets. paddles purely decorative. Carries up to 128 pax. Travels about 3 miles, 1/2 mile up-stream--2 1/2 miles down then return. It is just a big booze bus frequently used for watery weddings and parties. the beautiful old house overlooking the river is the old Greenslade homestead "Wairere" built about 1908-10 replacing an earlier home demolished by white ants

[Roderick Smith]

Updating my earlier list.
A good reference is www.riverboatsnz.com, but the compiler restricted his coverage to boats from just one company.

NORTH ISLAND
* Wanganui, Whanganui River:
 - Commercial PS Waimarie (www.riverboats.homestead.com).   Described in the thread 'New Zealand's pride, PS Waimarie' on p2 of this forum.  Plans are available.

* Lake Taupo
 - PV Otunui (which had been at Wanganui, damaged by fire in 2003).

* Hamilton, Waikato River (pronounced why-cat-oh):
 - FPV Waipa Delta (www.waipadelta.co.nz).   Described earlier in this thread.
 - SWPS Rawhiti.  Described by Ray earlier in this thread.
 - SWPS Manuwai.  Described (with a photo) by Ray earlier in this thread.

* Ohinamuri River (pronounced Oh-heena-moori?).
 - PS Kopu.  Described by Ray earlier in this thread, with then & now photos.  Preserved at Paeroa (pronounced Pie-row).

SOUTH ISLAND
* Lake Ianthe (west coast)
 - Commercial: PV Tamati.  Photos earlier in this thread, plus a video in the video section of Paddleducks.

* Lake Wakatipu (Queenstown).  This town and lake are very touristy.  The beautiful preserved TSS Earnslaw maintains tourist services.  There were two paddlesteamers in the fleet before this famous survivor was built.
 - PS Antrim.  Designed and built locally; commissioned on 1.1.1869.  Relegated to emergency work from 1905.  Dismantled in 1920.  The boiler (not original) and engine were installed to power the slip for Earnslaw, and are still in use today.
 - PS Mountaineer.  Prefabricated in Dunedin, and assembled at Kingston.  Launched Tues.11.2.1879.
Length 125 ft, 38 m
Beam 16 ft, 4.9 m
Depth 7 ft, 2.1 m
It was withdrawn in 1931, sold for use as a houseboat, then scrapped in 1941 to provide metal during WWII.

Information on these new entries came from Malcolm Mackay 'Lady of the lake; the TSS Earnslaw story', self published, 2nd ed. 2005, Isbn 0 908720 29 7.  The book also describes SS Ben Lomond (Lake Wakatipu) and TSS Waikana and TSS Waireka (Dunedin harbour, very similar to Earnslaw in design).  It also contains plans for Earnslaw.

Regards,
Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor

[Roderick Smith]

This restored vessel plies Whanganui River, and has been mentioned in posts in this thread, and in other threads.
I found the enclosed brochure.  It mentions www.wanganui.org.nz/riverboats.  In a quick view, I couldn't find anything on Waimarie there, but it does have a section on Whanganui River.
Of the two photos, one was taken specially by my NZ contributor Wayne Duncan to forward to Alistair D for his forthcoming book.  The other came from a mystery source, probably www.riverboatsnz.com (compulsory viewing for NZ paddleboat material).

PS Waimarie was built as PS Aotea.  This is a very famous name in NZ history.
In 1938, NZR named its fleet of six new railmotors:
RM30: Aotea
RM31: Tokomaru
RM32: Pangatoru
RM33: Takitimu
RM34: Tainui
RM35: Tikitere
All were named after famous Maori canoes.  These were six of the seven canoes which in legend brought the Maori people from Tahiti to settle in the land which would become NZ.  There were up to 40: see
www.teara.govt.nz/NewZealanders/MaoriNewZealanders/CanoeTraditions/en.
On Sat.28.1.67 Rm30 Aotea made a record-breaking run: Wellington - Auckland & return in a day, a special charter for railway enthusiasts, exploiting the recent introduction of centralised control of points & signals on the 681 km route (providing more efficient crossings, and eliminating the need to slow at stations). Times were: Wellington 0.01; Auckland 10.20-12.38; Wellington 22.04.  The northbound overall average was 66 km/h; the running time had been 8 h 54 min (77 km/h).  The southbound overall average was 72 km/h; the running time had been 8 h 42½ min (78 km/h). The railmotor had not exceeded its authorised 105 km/h.
In 1981, Air New Zealand used the five canoe names for its initial fleet of Boeing 747-200s:
ZK-NZV Aotea
ZK-NZW Tainui
ZK-NZX Takitimu
ZK-NZY Te Arawa
ZK-NZZ Tokomaru
See www.kiwiaircraftimages.com/747.html
Aotea Wharf is a principal wharf in Wellington, between the main railway station and the terminal for roro ferries to Picton.

Regards,
Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor

[mjt60a]

.....Note the reference to feathering paddles....

(on Tamati)
There was an article in 'paddlewheels' last year (?) about this boat. If I remember right, they said the paddles were basically a scaled-down version of those on Maid of the Loch! Note also the transparent perspex paddleboxes to show the detail of the wheels - more noticeable in the videos section  

[Roderick Smith]

I added two more photos of PS Waimarie to my existing post this morning.

I have now found my copy of Parsons & Tolley 'Paddle Steamers of Australasia', 3rd ed, 1973.  This was printed on a wax-stencil duplicator, using a typewriter and foolscap paper.
The NZ summary occupies eight pages, and lists perhaps 40 paddle boats which operated on coastal routes, rivers and lakes.
It is a cumbersome book from which to extract a simple summary.
PS Waimarie does not show in the summary, but does have an entry in the individual vessel pages.
Without an item-by-item search of this section, some vessels may well be missed.
UK Paddleduckers will be pleased to know that a couple of Clyde-style paddlesteamers operated from Auckland to Thames, on the sheltered side of Coromandel Peninsula.

Probably I will build up the summary progressively by editing this post multiple times.

Regards,
Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor

[Roderick Smith]

Pronunciation for Rangiriri please?

From Parsons & Tolley 'Paddlesteamers of Australiasia':
Gunboat, built in sections and shipped from Sydney in the 1860s to Waikato for use in the Maori wars.  Never registered, even when used as a commercial vessel later.
It was the second paddlesteamer on Waikato River, took no part in the war, but brought in soldier settlers and supplies to riverside settlements, and had a very useful 25 year life in service.
The book has no tech specs, but does have a reproduction of a wood-block engraving of Rangiriri or its predecessor.  I have attached this now, to complement Harold's interesting images.  The caption on the original engraving did not identify which of the two was shown.

Captain Cadell, of Murray river fame, left Australia to establish river traffic on Waikato (apparently the military supply line).  Later he returned to sea, and was murdered in Dutch East Indies [Indonesia].

In Australian river history, Randell is seen as the grand old man; Cadell as the upstart.  There is a reasonable biography of Cadell.  I would love to see a play or musical based on his adventurous life.  He moved in the upper echelons of SA society, and was particularly friendly with the governor and his wife (Sir Henry and Lady Augusta Fox-Young).

Regards,
Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor

[Harold H. Duncan]

Rangiriri - Rang-ih-re-re
The wood block is of the ps Pioneer built in Sydney Sept 1863 by the Australian Steam Navigation Company and sailed to NZ, main mast & sails removed and served as gun boat on the Waikato. The 12' diameter gun turrets each contained a 12 pounder and still exist having been removed at the end of the war. One at Mercer the other at Ngaruawhai. Length 140' beam 20' and drawing 3' of water when fully loaded.
Does anyone know what happened to the engines and boiler from the ps Freetrader after it was abandoned at Mercer when owned by Ceaser Roose. His daughter Jeanette cannot remember and I would like to find them to measure and photograph for my model of the Rangiriri.
Also does anyone know what happened to the Pioneers machinery after it was wrecked on the Manukau Bar, December 1866.
 :music

[Roderick Smith]

There is an update to the story at http://riverboats.homestead.com/Otunui.html.
What is not clear is the zone of operation of the boat, now that it has been rebuilt at Coromandel.

Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor