Rimutaka Hill – can be a treacherous drive at times especially in bad weather

my drive over was plagued by heavy rain and mist. this hill connects the city and the Hutt

Valley with the Wairarapa

Evans Bay ,Wellington

Wairarapa

Wellington Railway station

Oriental Bay ,Wellington

The Edwina May was owned by Willaim Maxwell Curtain, who was restoring this ship near the Tooradin airport, he could not find any other suitable place to work on her.

He managed to add a 6 meter section, in the middle to make her longer, then tragically his son who helped him with building boats was killed while on board another of their boats the Darwin Princess in cyclone Tracey December 25 1974. His body was never found. Max never finished the restoration and here it lies still, in the mangroves.

Legend has it that people driving past have often thought they have seen someone on board.

The  ‘Ticonderga’  left England eighty days before arriving at Point Nepean, with eight hundred and eleven people on board. Because of the lack of the most necessary amenities and over crowding, fever developed amongst the passengers, resulting in 96 deaths during the voyage.

On her arrival at Portsea on November 6th 1852, the survivors were quarantined, their numbers being so great that tents had to be erected to provide accommodation. Here a further 82 of the ships passengers died.

Labour to dig the graves was also unavailable, and the  bodies were placed vertical in recesses in the cliff face and the overhanging bank was then broken away, the resulting landslide burying them.

Many of the present building of the Point Nepean Quarantine Station were begun in 1856. The quarantine station is now a national park, where visitors can visit the Point Nepean Fort and the Quarantine Station Museum.

Polly Woodside was launched in 1885 in Belfast, Ireland. The owner was William Woodside, a Belfast ship owner, the ship was named after his wife who  was affectionately known as ” Polly”.

Between 1885 and 1904 the ship made 17 trips to several destinations all over the  world, including South Africa  the US, and Australia, and rounded the  Cape Horn 16 times, which was a feat in its self .

 She was sold to a New Zealand firm in  1904 and renamed Rona and sailed mainly between   Australia and New Zealand. Eventually moved to Melbourne to be used as a coal lighter.

In 1943 the Rona was temporarily requisitioned by the Royal Australian Navy and towed to New Guinea waters for use as a refueling barge for naval ships.

The ship was returned to Melbourne after  the Second World War, and for the next 20 years was used for supplying coal to other ships.

The ship, now in dry dock in Melbourne, lovingly restored and open to the public as a  museum

Below the French Island barge transports vehicles form French Island to the Corinella port, here  a visitor drives of the barge or does he ?

Flinders is  a popular  holiday destination due to its scenic coastal location. They have managed  to preserve the area’s natural beauty and scenic views. There are a  number of historical buildings that exist within the town,  along with  several antique shops, the Flinders Fine Art Gallery and the popular Flinders Bakehouse Cafe.

The pier pictured below is a bit over a hundred meters long and a popular fishing spot so watch out for the fishing lines. There are plans now to redevelop this pier and the construction of the new pier has already begun along side the old one