Saturday, September 18, 2010

Sepia Saturday: A Big Boat.

Have you ever been amazed at how things from one's childhood
shrink when revisited in adulthood?

This is the 'AWHITU'.
I remembered it so well in my mind from when I was a child
growing up on the Manukau Peninsula.
The Awhitu carried passengers and cargo to and fro around the harbour,
from the peninsula to Onehunga, Auckland.
My older brothers and sister travelled on the Awhitu to Auckland
but when my little sister and I came on the scene after the war
our infrequent trips to Auckland were by car.

The Awhitu was still doing some trade around the harbour though
and I remember a summer picnic from Big Bay
travelling on this sturdy wooden launch.

Once we travelled on the Awhitu down to Waiuku to meet maori canoes
that were re-enacting canoe journeys from the Waikato River to Onehunga.


The shock came recently when this old photo came into my possession.
I stared in disbelief at how small the Awhitu was!
I laughed at how I, a child had thought it was such a big boat.
I can still smell the cabin below where we could sit.
I remember it as being rather hot and stuffy.

I look at it now from an adults perspective
and I smile and feel affection for this means of transport from the past.
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17 comments:

  1. Such a wonderful remembrance you have here, Joan. Yes, oh yes, so many things and places of my childhood look so small now when I view them as an adult. I think the places diminish in size, but our appreciation in them grows so much more in the process. This was so lovely to read as I close my day here.

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  2. Wonderful post J, I can't imagine having to cross the Manukau Harbour in all it's mood in this wee boat. It makes me wonder about my family going back and forwards from the inlet near Patumahoe to Onehunga in the 1850/60's, once to have baby christened.

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  3. What great memories wrapped up in this boat. It is strange how small things we experienced as children are in person when we re-encounter them as adults. It can't just be the difference of a few feet of height can it?

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  4. Hi Joan, I couldn't agree more, it's so funny how things that seemed so big as a child were really quite small. The Awhitu looks tiny in the photo. I think I would be nervous of falling overboard! Jane. xx

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  5. Wonderful photo and perception! I an loving learning about NZ life!

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  6. It does look quite a modest-sized boat but must have been enormous to a little girl! Jo

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  7. I know exactly what you mean, I remember seeing some of the seaside boats of my childhood a few years ago and was astonished how small they actually were. Perhaps Einstein was right and time is a dimension in its own right.

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  8. Hi Joan; beautiful and interesting memories of times past.What a thrill it must have been to go on a boat especially a big one! I had a snoopy through your earlier posts and enjoyed them very much. I love languages,the melodious sounding Maori words.

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  9. damn!!
    it's a spoon!!
    but you gave me an idea...
    i saw my old primary school, years ago,
    and it felt SO small!!!
    i just might have to revisit this idea,
    thanks to you.
    :)~
    :)~
    HUGZ

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  10. Thank you everyone for lovely comments. I really appreciate you calling by!

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  11. ah, ah, ah!!!
    my previous post had the word verification:
    joking....
    i rest my case!!!
    :)~

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  12. That was funny..you must have been writing your comment Ticklebear as I was writing thank you! They popped up together. I love the 'spoon' oh yeah! No joking! Very apt.

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  13. I agree with Vicki - I love learning these little tidbits of New Zealand life. And I've had the same experience: remembering something as vast and finding it not so from the perspective of my adult self. We grow. By comparison, other things shrink. And our amazement, as children, of the wonders of things make them seem larger-than-life, I think.

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  14. What a wonderful memory. There's something special about travelling by water, and the view of life we have from a boat. And I can imagine how huge it must have seemed when you were small!

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  15. Isn't it peculiar how everything seemed so much bigger to us when we were children! I've experienced that too. Reading about NZ is interesting to me, the names of places and things, I suppose I don't pronounce them correctly either. Great post

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  16. Well,yes,Smalled but just as sturdy!

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