The only specialised marine publication in Oceania that focuses on the maritime industry, from super yachts to small craft to large commercial ships, including coastal shipping, tugs, tow boats, barges, ferries, tourist, sport-fishing craft, je
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Real Journeys matriarch Olive Hutchins and Keith Ingram 1920's loaded with sheep from Walter Peak Station Catering on a fine scale supplies, freight and passengers. On Easter Saturday 1914, Earnslaw's popularity was such that she carried 1056 people: more than her allowed maximum loading at the time of 1035 passengers and 11 crew. With features such as a first class dining room, social hall, ladies cabin, and ship's bar, along with her kauri panelling and velvet seating, TSS Earnslaw was state-of-the-art, and passenger numbers increased noticeably when she joined the Lake Wakatipu fleet. She played a prominent role for many years as she was then the key mover of stock, freight and passengers, as well as catering for a growing visitor trade. The first warning bells sounded in 1936 with the opening of the Kingston to Queenstown road. The advent of coach services meant that there was now competition on the route that offered a more frequent and cheaper service to passengers. But TSS Earnslaw continued to provide an exceptional freight and passenger service to Glenorchy and head of the lake residents, particularly after 1952, when the last of the original steamers the Ben Lomond, was scuttled, leaving the Earnslaw as the sole passenger steamer remaining on Lake Wakatipu.Yet another chapter closed in 1963 when the Queenstown to Glenorchy road was officially opened. Passenger numbers reached a peak in 1963/64 when the steamer carried almost 37,000 passengers, but by 1968 there was a serious decline in numbers and the Government talked of scuttling her. However, a syndicate of young Auckland men stepped in and chartered her for $1 from New Zealand Railways with a view to saving and eventually purchasing her. In spite of their fervour they could not make the venture work and her future once again looked bleak. At this stage Les and Olive Hutchins of Fiordland Travel Ltd who were well known in the tourist industry as the founders of the Manapouri-Doubtful Sound 16 NZ WORKBOAT REVIEW 2013 Tourist Company, could see an opportunity and in 1969 they chartered the Earnslaw. Since 1970 Fiordland Travel (rebranded as Real Journeys 2002), has committed to retaining TSS Earnslaw as a heritage steamship, and in spite of some modifications following the company's outright purchase of her in 1982, she remains largely unchanged from the boat launched in 1912. Today she runs regular daily trips across Lake Wakatipu to Walter Peak high country resort and carries more than 150,000 passengers a year. Still powered by the original coal fired locomotive type boilers of her original owners NZR, she burns one ton of coal per hour, producing 160psi of steam to power her twin 500hp triple expansion engines, giving the Earnslaw a respectable service speed of 12 to 13 knots. The company now has a costly 25-year rolling maintenance programme in place. Every second year the vintage steamer is placed on the purpose built slip at Kelvin Heights for a detailed inspection. The 1893 boiler and engine from the Lake Wakatipu steamer the Antrim, was installed on the slipway in 1922 as haulage for TSS Earnslaw, and remains in remarkable working condition today. It is the oldest boiler surveyed by Lloyds of London today. The 2012 survey, carried out over eight weeks earlier this year, saw an even greater investment in the heritage steamer to mark her 100th birthday. Real Journeys Operations Manager Queenstown, Angus Small, said the company wanted to ensure the ship was in prime condition for the centenary celebrations: "A few years ago we looked at what is required to future proof the TSS Earnslaw, and we have a replacement programme in place. As well as a total overhaul of the