Well we remember the Wahine disaster. We were at Intermediate at the time, and the storm where we were was bad enough. But when we heard of the tragedy unfolding in and around Wellington Harbour on 10 April 1968, we were, like the rest of the nation transfixed.
The Dom-Post marks the 42nd anniversary of the Wahine tragedy this morning with a story of heroism. We won't copy and paste any of it, but it's a fitting reminder of a tragic day for Wellington and for New Zealand. Our thoughts and our prayers go out today to all who were touched by the sinking of the Wahine, with the loss of 51 lives - Arohanui.
UPDATE: PM of NZ blogs about the collision of two weather systems which led to the fateful storm - well worth a read
3 comments:
Amazing how such memories mould one for life.
A little over a year later, another defining moment, a man on the moon.
Indeed PM - July 1969 - a Monday afternoon from memory, and our teacher allowed us to have the radio on in the classroom.
I'm about to post a link to your piece on Cyclone Giselle - great post.
I remember as a nine year old that after the Inungahua earthquake my parents had had enough and decided to relocate our family back to Havelock North in Hawkes Bay from Greymouth.
My grandfather came down to assist with the trip.
We took the overnight ferry from Lyttleton one October evening in 1968 and the vision the next morning of the Wahine lying on her side as our ferry passed her and headed up the narrow pass into Wellington harbour proper was a sight to behold.
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