It's always baffled us how the anchor of one of Wellington's historical tragedies has ended up on Batchelor Street in Newlands, next to the Community Centre. What an amazing piece of history to have in our neighbourhood!
The Wahine disaster happened on 10th April 1968 when the Wahine (a ferry operated by the Union Steam Ship Co. which ran services between Lyttelton and Wellington), capsized on Barrett Reef near the entrance to Wellington Harbour. 53 people lost their lives out of the 733 passengers and crew that were on board at the time.
The anchor was originally purchased by the Johnsonville Licensing Trust, and sat for a few decades outside the Newlands Arms (the watering hole down the road) before it was moved to its current resting position.
There are actually bits of the Wahine scattered around the region – Waterfront, Oriental Bay, Eastbourne, and Seatoun. Two of those locations are either side of the bay/harbour where the sinking occurred. So while it’s a bit puzzling how this ended up in little ol’ Newlands, hopefully this cache will bring traffic to the area and reflect on history.
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Further reading on the Wahine tragedy where 53 people died here.
The Newlands Community Centre is a great neighbourhood resource with rooms to hire for meetings, events, birthdays, weddings (etc) and offers a toy library, drop-in space, and food bank services.
If you haven’t yet, check out our other hide next to another community space for hire: Know your local emergency hub #1 GCAMDW4.