On a fine, calm day ‘Cruising on The Interislander’ can be like a luxury Mediterranean cruise, but Cook Strait can be one of the world's roughest stretches of
water. Often, the ferry experience is less The Love Boat and more the 'chuck bucket'.
Although many ships sailed between Lyttelton and Wellington during the course of their longer voyages, a regular passenger service between those ports took time to develop.
Politicians used the ferries to
travel between their electorates and Wellington,
so they scrutinised the Union Steam Ship Company's management of the ships.
The purpose-built Maori of 1907 was a big leap forward,
but description of the cabins was limited to ‘well endowed with spring
mattresses and superior bed coverings' – no showers, toilets or electric
sockets here!
Crossing Cook Strait is often idyllic, but it can be one of the world’s roughest stretches of water as it's part of the westerly wind belt known as the Roaring Forties.
Every night, weather and sea
conditions permitting, two ships crossed in the night at about 1.25 a.m. off the Kaikoura coast as
perhaps 1500 New Zealanders passed quite literally like ships in the night.
The Lyttelton–Wellington ferries were such a vital link for
travellers that they were given priority whenever strikes or lockouts paralysed
the wharves, but wars disrupted the service.
In the face of competition from other forms of transport the Union Steam Ship Company abandoned its glamour
ferry service, sending the Maori to the
scrappers in 1974.
The Wahine (right) reverses into the new
Lyttelton ferry terminal, while the Maori is berthed at another wharf. The image was taken shortly after the Wahine came into service in 1966.
In 1895 the old Penguin initiated regular sailings
between Lyttelton and Wellington.
Fourteen years later, while running between Picton and Wellington, the Penguin sank with the loss of 75 lives.
As inter-island passengers switched from trains to
private cars in the 1960s, the Maori was converted to a roll-on roll-off
ferry, loading vehicles through a stern door.