Earlier this year, Hal Wagstaff visited the New Zealand Maritime Museum. At the time, he was planning on attending the World Moth Championships to be held in Hayama, Japan and he promised to send us a photo or two from his trip. A few months later, he supplied the photos and curator, Jaqui Knowles, sat down with him to have a chat. 

1. A Boating Family 

By Rebekah Clements 

If you’re a young Kiwi sailor (or were!) it’s likely you’ve spent some time in a boat designed by John Balmain Brooke, known as Jack. Always concerned with making sailing as accessible as possible, he designed some of our most well-known and loved sailing boats including the Frostbite, Sunburst and the Spirit of Adventure.

Robert Snr, Robert Jnr, John and Archibald Logan are responsible for the design and construction of some of the fastest racing yachts in New Zealand’s history.  

Robert Logan Snr came to New Zealand in 1874, just 4 years later he had a thriving business with Henry Niccol at Devonport building steamers, whaleboats and racing yachts. Using New Zealand native timbers especially Kauri which proved to be easy to work and resistant to rot.

No water - no life… Poor water - poor life…

Did you know that:

It’s been all about the beach here at the museum for the last four months. With only two weeks to go until At the Beach closes, I thought it was a perfect time to talk about why the beach means so much to us.

The At the Beach exhibition, in the New Zealand Maritime Museum continues to draw a large enthusiastic audience including a special visit this week from Lady Janine Mateparae. With an early career as a swimwear designer, Lady Janine is particularly interested in the New Zealand fashion design and manufacturing story being told within the exhibition. 

As part of our current “Ferries on the Waitematā” exhibition (on until 4 October), we commissioned Silena Griffin, a 3rd year photography student enrolled at the Unitec Institute of Technology in Auckland, to explore the experience of ferry passengers sailing on the Waitematā Harbour in 2015. With support from Fullers, Silena travelled around the harbour and in this blog, she tells us about her work and inspiration:

Sally Fodie began her working life as a nurse aide in Oamaru. She was thirty years old when she came to Auckland with her husband in 1981 and began working on the Waitematā Harbour.  Initially, she was a deckhand before skippering the ferry GLEN ROSA, which ran from Auckland to the North Shore. Later, she skippered KESTREL for a decade.

What could be more evocative of sea travel today than the names of the three Cunard liners: QUEEN MARY 2, QUEEN ELIZABETH and QUEEN VICTORIA.

Dining in luxury or travelling in a state room with a balcony may seem beyond the means of most people, but each year these ships call at ports around the world and take passengers on a voyage of a lifetime.

In May 2015, the three Queens helped celebrate the 175th anniversary of the Cunard Line by steaming together down the Mersey in Liverpool. They were watched by thousands of people who crammed every vantage point to see the ships.