Harbour manager predicts port and business benefits from cruise ship visits to the Bay
Adventure travel came to Golden Bay in style this week.
In what organisers hope will be the first of many visits, the 5000-tonne Clipper Odyssey brought 91 passengers and almost as many crew to Tarakohe on Saturday. The vessel stayed until Sunday morning, then returned on Thursday with a similar number of tourists.
The first visit of the Clipper Odyssey to our port was marked by an official welcome, including a powhiri and wero (challenge), attended by local government representatives Cr Noel Reilly and Golden Bay Community Board chair Joe Bell.
“This welcome was a first for all the passengers and crew,” said cruise director Lynda Murphy from Seattle, Washington. “It was very special for the captain and the safety officer to be involved in the ceremony, a real honour. It was a treat to see so many members of the public who had come out to see us too.”
Captain Peter Gluscke from Colorado, USA, and safety officer Ed Roxas from the Philippines received a stirring challenge from warriors Kapohau Matiu-Wharepapa and Tamu Mausii, who had come from Motueka to be part of the ceremony.
In the challenge, a taua (warrior) brandishing a taiaha places a taki (twig, carved dart or weapon) on the ground in front of an important man in the visiting party. The manner in which the taki is treated determines the intentions of the visiting group: if it is picked up by its stem or handle it indicates that the visitors have hostile intentions.
The two visitors were accompanied through the welcome by Barney Thomas (Ngati Rarua), who also spoke on their behalf in response to the welcoming words of local kaumatua John Ward-Holmes (Ngati Tama). On future occasions, welcomes will be sited further away from the noise made by the ship’s fans, which had to be left running and drowned out most of the speakers’ words.
Passengers were later taken by bus to Te Waikoropupu Springs and other parts of Golden Bay for shopping and sightseeing.
The Clipper Odyssey is owned in Copenhagen, registered in Nassau, operated by a company in Miami and jointly chartered by Noble Caledonia and Seagrams from Seattle.
Captain Gluscke took up cruise boat captaincy after retiring from a 30-plus-year career in the German navy. He described the Clipper Odyssey as an “expedition cruise ship” operating in a niche market.
“We’re smaller than many cruise ships so we’re very flexible,” he said. “We can get into ports like this one where the big cruise ships would have to moor offshore. We also carry a smaller number of passengers so everyone is recognised as an individual. On the huge new ships, where there may be 3000 passengers, you can become just like a number.”
The passengers certainly live very comfortably on board. The vessel has a small gymnasium, informal and formal dining rooms, a library, internet café and plenty of places for relaxation and entertainment. Experts in fields such as botany and history are part of the support staff and provide lectures for the passengers en route to new places. The crew is phenomenally attentive and polite.
The price-tag for this kind of touring? Between $800 and $1000 per person per day, depending on the status of cabin you choose.
The Clipper Odyssey also carries 11 Zodiac powerboats that transport passengers to places of interest. Cruise director Murphy said that a real highlight of the current cruise had been a Zodiac expedition into Milford Sound.
“We struck a perfectly calm day so the guests were able to go right up to the waterfalls and really get a feeling for the vastness of the place. It was stunning.”
Ms Murphy said that all of the ports of call in New Zealand had impressed the visitors, and Captain Gluscke said that what impressed him was that New Zealand was not allowing the tourist industry to adversely affect its environment.
Passengers Richard and Anne Clough, from Essex in England, joined the ship in Auckland on 3 Jan and disembarked in Wellington on Wednesday of this week. They said that the cruise had been everything they expected and that they had loved New Zealand.
“Cruising is a very nice way to travel. Travelling like this means that we only have to hang up our clothes once and we’re taken to the next nice place while we’re asleep,” said Mr Clough. “The staff and everyone on board have been fantastic.”
In Golden Bay, the couple took a helicopter flight from Collingwood to the Cobb Valley and back over Takaka. “It was my third time in a helicopter but this one really took the biscuit,” said Mrs Clough.
As the Clipper Odyssey left Tarakohe on Sunday morning, some passengers were being taken to Totaranui to meet a catamaran and explore parts of the Abel Tasman National Park before rejoining their floating hotel in Nelson.
Tarakohe harbour manager Allan Kilgour pronounced the ship’s visit a great success.
“The business of getting a vessel into the wharf and secured is always a little bit of a worry the first time, but it all went very smoothly. The bow and stern thrusters meant that the ship could turn around in its own length,” said Mr Kilgour. “The captain told me that our port was very accessible.”
Carol Brown had the original idea of attracting a cruise ship to Golden Bay and approached Mr Kilgour two years ago to ask whether the port would be interested. “We definitely were, so we’ve worked on the project with the help of a lot of other people since then,” said Mr Kilgour. “Attracting more ships to the port is good for more than just the port – there are downstream effects for all sorts of businesses. If the port is to go ahead and be developed in the ways that the council wants it to be, it is going to have to pay its way. Having more cruise ship visits will certainly help that.”
The Clipper Odyssey is expected to return to Golden Bay next year as part of a regular arrangement. Visits by other cruise ships are likely as well.
Neil Wilson
