Chinese Warships at Queens Wharf

On Sunday 12th September a couple of Chinese warships came to visit Auckland. They tied up at Queens Wharf and I was amazed at the level of interest from the local community. Queues all the way back to the Red Gates.

According to China Daily: "...Two Chinese Navy ships arrived here in Auckland's New Zealand's largest city Saturday on a four-day visit to the South Pacific country. It is the fourth visit by Chinese Navy ships since China and New Zealand established diplomatic relations in 1972. At about 10 am local time (2200 GMT Friday), the training vessel, Zhenghe, and the frigate, Mian Yang, slowly entered Queen's Wharf under the guidance of a New Zealand Navy ship, Wellington. The Chinese Navy fleet was warmly received by Royal New Zealand Navy Maritime Component Commander Ross Smith, Chinese Ambassador to New Zealand Xu Jianguo, and a huge crowd of overseas Chinese....

They loved the visit. Photos and groups everywhere. Festive and cultural. Again the theme of Auckland as a cultural gateway opens up.

The Chinese flag was being waved by a few visitors. And it all added colour to the pictures that Auckland's local Chinese population will take home after the visit.

"Build Friendship Bridges to Meet Good Friends" - read the banners on both ships, which were crammed with visitors.

The China Dail story went on: "....After the welcoming ceremony, Commander Smith and Ambassador Xu stepped onto the Zhenghe training vessel and held a short meeting with Chinese Navy Rear Admiral Leng Zhenqing, who serves as the commander of the visiting formation. Rear Admiral Leng then headed toward Devonport Navy Base on Auckland's North Shore, the home of the Royal New Zealand Navy, to meet senior New Zealand military officials. Smith told Xinhua he was very glad to see Chinese Navy ships visit New Zealand and he expected the Royal New Zealand Navy could conduct joint training with the Chinese Navy. Leng said the visit was part of efforts to construct a harmonious world and a harmonious ocean and was also conducive to improving the level of military cooperation between the two countries. During the stay in New Zealand, visiting Chinese Navy soldiers will visit an old people's home and give a joint musical performance with a troupe from the Royal New Zealand Navy. The two ships will also be open for public tours on Sunday. New Zealand is the fourth stop on the Chinese Navy ships' itinerary, which has included calls on Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu and Tonga, and will take them to Australia...." So many photos....

And videos, family shots...

One man even offered to take my photo (and boy was he a pro'), and then in exchange I took his. Now there's a cultural partnership!

The bright bunting made these rather aggressive war machines a little more friendly, and brightened up Queens Wharf.

Seen here through the doors of Shed 10 as I walked away.

An interesting day. You can see how Queens Wharf, linked along to Maritime Museum, across Te Whero, to Wynyard Quarter. Vos Building. Heritage Landing. Such potential for a rich maritime multi-cultural experience. Auckland Authentic.

Korean Warships at Queens Wharf

Today, Friday August 20th, these two navy ships are visiting Auckland, and tied up to Queens Wharf. No security guards to be seen. Public welcome. I spotted them last night, all lit up like Christmas trees. This sort of visit is a taste of things to come - and I don't mean Cruise ships locking up Queens Wharf from public access...

As I walked along Queens Wharf last night, without knowing what these ships were, the first thought I had was that they were ours. But then I spotted the guard on the ship. And the uniform of the serviceman walking purposely along the wharf...

That's when I spotted these markings and saw I was wrong. My first thought was they were Japanese. But the guard informed me the ships were visiting from Korea. He said I should come the next day (Friday) when the ships would be open to view, from 10:00am till 10:00pm.

So I did come back, and, conitnue my photographic tour. You can see the welcome aboard sign there - and the big gun turret.

And here's that delightful: "Thank You New Zealand" sign. From the Republic of Korea. On TV we learned that the sign was a gesture of appreciation for the rescue of Korean fishermen in the recent tragedy. Today, even though it was a bit wet, there was a steady stream of Aucklanders stepping aboard.

There were glowing Korean Lanterns lighting the way. All vyer festive. And talk about CLEAN. The ships were like new.

As I stepped on the gangway, got this pic showing how the ship was tied up, Shed 10 in the background, and people coming aboard...

I was very impressed to see that the sailors had their own bikes. Ready for Auckland. Very sensible. Just thought you should know...

And above decks everybody took advantage of the access to pose and to take photos. Sometimes of themselves, of the Korean Officers who so politely showed us around, of the ship. I saw a Korean Officer use a visitor's camera to take a picture of the man and his daughter.

And visitors also took photos of Auckland from the ship's deck. You begin to see how this sort of image can brand Auckland. A bit different from the City of Sails, but still a city on the water. With a story to tell. A changing story.

You can see how Shed 10 can be adapted for this sort of public experience and amenity. This is about events, and about marketing Auckland. And its relationships with its neighbours. The Korean population is growing in Auckland. This sort of visit brings countries together, and people together.

One of the ships has a travelling exhibition. Displays. Models. Korean Officers there to answer questions...

Some of the displays speak of the Korean War. Historic battles were explained and described...

And this was the Hyundai display. I thought they only made fuel efficient cars. According to the sign: "the world's largest and leading ship yard"!

There were also a number of audiovisual displays. Pretty robust stuff.

So there you have it. An interesting visit. Makes me think about the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior. A major part of Auckland's maritime history. We need to make more of that. Such a story. So much drama. And another country... they even beat us in the last Rugby World Cup didn't they?

Pacific Sun Uses Queens Wharf

There I was on Monday morning, 14th June, minding my own business commuting to work at the ARC by ferry from Devonport. And I said, "ullo, ullo, ullo?" There was the Pacific Sun tied up at Queens Wharf, and Princes Wharf was empty. So I went to have a look from the ferry terminal. The place was teeming with people and security guards. Could I get onto Queens Wharf?...

I couldn't quite tell what was happening from the Red Gates. Were people coming or going? What was going on? I tried to look like a tourist as I pushed my bike onto the wharf. The guards ignored me...

As I got closer I could see that whole families appeared to be getting off the Pacific Sun, piling into taxis and cars and all sorts, and heading home. Bags and all.

At one point there must've been half a dozen big buses taking up a whole lot of space, coming and going...

And there were private cars for Africa. People piling in with their bags and being sheparded out onto a busy Quay Street by those Security Guards...

At the other end of the ship containers were being loaded and unloaded, trucks were coming and going, and barriers were in place to prevent nosy members of the public from getting too close.

So I asked a Security Guard what was happening and it all became clear. This particular trip for the Pacific Sun was from the Islands somewhere, and it was terminating in Auckland. All the passengers were disembarking he explained, and another trip would be departing later that day, after the new lot of passengers were allowed on board. The point of this blog is to illustrate the intensity of use of Queens Wharf, and the major traffic effects, when a cruise ship uses the wharf to terminate and originate a cruise. Most cruise ship visits to Auckland are so-called "Port of Call" visits. The ship simply calls in, the passengers live on board the ship with all their baggage, and they visit Auckland as tourists while the ship is in port. The demands on the cruise ship terminal are much less for "Port of Call" visits than "Originating" or "Terminating" visits. So are the traffic demands. The Pacific Sun is a medium sized cruise ship, holding a maximum of 1900 passengers. That's quite a few. Other cruise ships that visit Auckland are bigger - with presumably greater traffic and freight demands - should they dock here to terminate or to originate a cruise. The question of whether Queens Wharf should be used for a cruise ship terminal is critically affected by the further question of what the terminal is for: port of call only? Or to originate and terminate cruises? And there is the additional question of whether it should be Queens Wharf (or Princes Wharf or another wharf) that functions as Auckland's primary cruise ship terminal. These questions and options have not been properly canvassed with Aucklanders. It is disingenuous to describe Queens Wharf as "the Peoples Wharf", when it is obvious how damaging to public amenity a "world class" cruise ship terminal designed to service terminating and originating cruises will be.

Queens Wharf - Design for people and ships and sheds...

The cruise ship is in. You can see the extendable walkways. These come from level 1 of the Shed 10. This is the way passenger exit and entry is handled by Wellington's equivalent shed. And many other places. It means that entry and exit facilities can be handled on level 1. Leaving wharf level for other things. Including visitors...

The futuristic shelters can be used to group activities like interpretation, food vendors, seating... Important to note the interesting views that are available at the end of Queens Wharf and along its length...