When I travel North
West out of Auckland to my friend J & J's house at Massey, I see
this giant with with a big banner," Save the SS Toroa." Each time, I
whip out my camera, my driver goes too fast for me to get a good photo.
My friend J had gone to live in New York, and I miss her very much. This post is dedicated to her.
Toroa was the last of the eight Albatross-type steam
passenger ferries to be built for the Waitemata. She was built at George
Niccol's yard at St. Mary’s Bay, Auckland for the Devonport Steam Ferry
Company Ltd. and was launched on Tuesday 28th April, 1925. Until her
retirement in 1980 she served the North Shore, mainly on the Auckland to
Devonport run with Makora, carrying 20,000 or more passengers a day
between them at the peak of the passenger service before the opening of
the Auckland Harbour Bridge in 1959.
Toroa means albatross in Maori.
Legend has it that the Tora and the Kakapo had a competition who would be the leader of the land birds. The Kakapo, a land parrot won, and the poor Tora was banished to be a sea bird.
http://www.toroa.org.nz/
http://www.panoramio.com/photo/42374044
http://yardyyardyyardy.blogspot.com/2010/01/toroa-unique-and-worth-saving.html#ixzz12fmItaWr
The Toroa is the only survivor in Auckland, New Zealand of the fleet
of Waitemata Harbour double-ended steam ferries that used to run
between Auckland City and the North Shore. She is a tangible piece of
the history and development of Auckland and she is absolutely
irreplaceable. Her restoration to authentic, seaworthy condition is well
underway.
The Toroa Preservation Society is registered in New Zealand as an
incorporated society under the Incorporated Societies Act of 1908. The
Society is registered as a Charity under the Charities Act of 2005.
The primary object of the Society is “to be beneficial to the
community by the restoration, preservation, maintenance and operation of
the veteran steam ferry Toroa to provide a historic link to the
operation of steam ferries on the Waitemata Harbour for more than one
hundred years”.
Further objects are to provide during the process of restoration
opportunities for training in vessel conservation principles, the
restoration of timber vessels and in traditional marine engineering;
When operational the Toroa will provide a range of experiences to
increase the knowledge of the importance of the ferries in the
development of the Auckland region, the history of marine steam
propulsion, and provide training in marine engineering and ship
operation.
The Toroa is owned by the New Zealand Maritime Trust, a registered
charitable trust. The Toroa Preservation Society holds a perpetually
renewable lease for the purposes of restoration, preservation,
maintenance and operation of the vessel.
Toroa is hauled out at Selwood Road, Henderson, Waitakere City to
restore her to authentic and seaworthy condition. This major
restoration, beginning with the hull and the engine, is well underway
and will in due course return her to the Harbour as an authentic
double-ended steam ferry, preserving the history of the ferries, and
presenting the story and the phenomenon of steam propulsion to new
generations of Aucklanders and visitors.
This batch, I experimented with bought seeds.
