Sunday, March 11, 2012

Gisborne Harbour through the 20th century


A view of Gisborne harbour in the 1920s by Percy Godber, a postcard circa 1950 and a Whites Aviation view from 1968. As can be seen, the two rivers, Taraheru and Waimata, combine nearby in the town area and flow into the sea. A separate breakwater-sheltered area was developed for ships.  The railway station and yard is visible to the left of the last photo. Info from a railway viewpoint is in the book Steaming to the Sunrise by Chris Wood, a more general history of the harbour written in 2000 (pdf file) is here

1 comment:

Wallace said...

Sailed into Gisborne on the mv Townsville Star in 1976, it was the only port where we actually did not feel secure. Arriving/delayed after a storm, the 12,000tonne ship continued to move up and down against the jetty for almost two days making life not as comfortable as normal and we were kept on 'stand by' should the need arise to use the engines again if the ropes broke loose.