Down and Out on the Waitematā

A response to Fredrick Hay. I was the cameraman on the film. The film was made on my instigation, in fact, as a young cameraman at the NFU. I was born and grew up in Northcote Point, and as a child I knew the whole fleet. I still have an interest in the restoration of Toroa.

My father is the tall skipper talking about how “he leaned towards the ferries”. I’m the deckhand tying up the kestrel as it berthed in Devonport. It’s amazing to hear my father's voice in this film, so consequently this production has become very special to me and my brothers. My brothers and I also worked on many of ferries shown here - the Toroa, Kestrel, the Fairmiles etc - and we knew many of the other crew shown working on these ferries. Thank you for making this documentary film available.

A great documentary!!