Waiwera Place

The 6237-tonne steam ship Waiwera was built in 1898 by Denny Brothers in Dumbarton, Scotland, for the Shaw Savill and Albion Company.

It first visited New Zealand in 1900, when it was used to transport troops of the Second New Zealand Contingent to the Boer War in South Africa.

Even though it was again wartime when the Waiwera made its first visit to New Plymouth, the circumstances - and the welcome - were quite different. War regulations dictated the arrival was shrouded in secrecy.

However, almost comically, a public meeting held to organise celebrations was told that while the day of arrival could not be mentioned, a lunch in honour of its arrival would be held on 30 March 20 1917.

When the Waiwera did eventually arrive, on 21 March, a public holiday was declared and a crowd estimated at 8000 was there to greet the ship. Festivities included a gymkhana and a lunch for 500 guests in a large marquee on Ngāmotu Beach. The two-day visit of the Waiwera was the fulfilment of long-held hopes for the use of the harbour as a deep sea port. It departed with a cargo of frozen meat bound for the United Kingdom.

Towards the end of its working life the Waiwera was sold to Ellerman's Bucknall Line and renamed "City of Pretoria". It was finally sold for scrap in 1928. Some 50 years after the historic visit of the Waiwera, approval was granted for its name to be used for a small cul- de-sac in Merrilands.

The obviously proud residents of the street must have been delighted when it was named New Plymouth's "best kept street" in 2003 and 2004.

This story was originally published in the Taranaki Daily News.