Faulkner's Ferries

Ferry, Wharf and Mauao, Okoroire (Pilot Bay), Postcard, Publisher unknown
Image collection of Justine Neal

An old tourist guide of the Tauranga area from the 1940’s includes the following paragraph: “Another facility in which the Mount beaches are particularly fortunate is the excellent ferry service maintained from Tauranga. This ferry service is one of Tauranga’s best known institutions. Established as far back as 1907 by the present proprietors, Messrs. Faulkner Bros., it now operates three large launches which maintain a constant service throughout the year. Its largest launch, the Reremoana, carries 81 passengers, the Shamrock 60 and the Farina 43. During the summer seven trips from Tauranga to the Mount are scheduled daily but the proprietors are prepared, at anytime, to run extra launches when they are required and arrangements are being made to call at the aerodrome pier whenever the occasion arises.

The trip down Tauranga Harbour is itself one of the most interesting features of a visit. It occupies half an hour from wharf to wharf the distance being 3¾ miles. Charges are most moderate and the service has an established reputation for entire dependability. This is indicated by the fact that it has operated continually for thirty years, outlasting all competitors and remaining today the sole operator. The harbour trip which it provides is a delightful experience giving the visitor a splendid views of Tauranga and its environs, a glimpse through the heads to the open sea and a community of interest with the hundreds of pleasure craft plying on the harbour.”

Salisbury Wharf, Mt. M., NZ. Postcard, Publisher unknown
Image collection of Justine Neal

The first Faulkner, John Lee, arrived in the Tauranga area in 1840 and established a trading post at Otumoetai. During his lifetime ferries across the Tauranga Harbour were mostly either waka or dinghies run by itinerant watermen.

In the summer of 1907/08 John Daniel Faulkner, using his launch Spindrift, advertised for passengers to take to the Bowentown regatta on 1st January. The Spindrift was about 30 feet long, had an oil engine but also carried a large sail. On 17th December 1909 he placed the following advertisement in the Bay of Plenty Times. “Mr. J. D. Faulkner announces that his launch Spindrift will run regularly to the Mount during the holiday season, leaving Tauranga at 6.45am and 6.10pm returning at 7.30 am and 7pm.”  The launch was advertised as commodious but most of her twenty five passengers would have been unable to squeeze into her tiny cabin and would have been exposed to the elements in the cockpit and on the foredeck. For the return trip a gun was fired on the Ocean Beach a quarter of an hour before the ferry left to return to Tauranga.

Mt. Maunganui, Tauranga, N.Z. (4865), Postcard, publ. National Publicity Studios
Image collection of Justine Neal

J. D. Faulkner was earning his living by fishing during the week and taking passengers to the Mount on Sundays, often ferrying over the vicar to take a Sunday service at the Mount. With the establishment of the railway works camp at Mount Maunganui Mr. Faulkner soon found it necessary to run daily ferry services. With this in mind a second launch, the Farina, was ordered from Auckland, and she reached Tauranga in mid-December 1911 to become the longest serving ferry in the Faulkner fleet.

Sadly on 7th August 1917 John Daniel Faulkner was accidentally killed while he was manoeuvring the Farina off the Railway Wharf. Two of his sons Robert, known as Barley, and George formed a company, Faulkner Bros. Limited, to carry on the ferry service. In November 1917 the Ruru, licensed to carry ninety passengers within the harbour limits, joined their fleet. On Boxing Day of that year she carried nearly three hundred passengers to Mount Maunganui and back.

Ferry Boat, Mount Maunganui, Tauranga, N.Z. (5662), Postcard, publ. National Publicity Studious
Image collection of Justine Neal

The ferry service went from strength to strength and with the establishment in 1924 of the Armstrong Whitworth works camp at Mount Maunganui another ferry was needed to cope with the expansion in trade. Subsequently in 1926 the Reremoana arrived in Tauranga, the Bay of Plenty Times rather unkindly reported that she was massive in appearance, and was designed for hard work and comfort, not speed, nor beauty.

The Ruru was sold in 1927 and other ferries to join the fleet over the ensuing years were the Shamrock Leaf, the Manurere (sold in 1933), the Waitere and the Aotearoa. Over the years Mount Maunganui’s population had been growing steadily larger, as were the seasonal holiday crowds and with the continuing absence of a good road link between Mount Maunganui and Tauranga there was plenty of work for the ferries. Fred Jones, a past skipper of the Waitere remembered the return fare across the harbour being one shilling and sixpence. Faulkner’s ran a picture boat service on Wednesday, Friday and Saturdays with ferries leaving Tauranga at 6.40 and 10.45pm and Salisbury Wharf at 7.10 and 11.15pm. In 1951 the ferries stopped running to the Mount Wharf and went only to Salisbury Wharf in Pilot Bay. By the mid 1950’s the Farina had been sold and the opening of the new highway between Mount Maunganui and Tauranga in 1959 meant there was no longer enough passengers to keep the Aotearoa in regular service and she was kept to cope with the summer time peaks.

Tauranga - Mt. Maunganui Ferry leaving Tauranga, New Zealand (P.2706), Postcard, publ. Pictorial Publications Ltd.
Image collection of Justine Neal

Faced with increasing costs and a reducing passenger potential the business was sold in 1969 to Mr. L. Dromgool but still traded under the name of Faulkner Bros. Ltd.

During their time Faulkner’s ferries did far more than just carry passengers between Tauranga and Mount Maunganui. When they could be spared from timetable services, the launches were always available for fishing parties to Tuhua (Mayor Island) and other charters. They towed scows up and down to Te Puna and Omokoroa in the heyday of native timber logging. They barged fertiliser and farm equipment up the Wairoa and the Omanawa rivers. Much of the building material and equipment for the McLaren Falls power station was carried by the Faulkner Bros. A report from the Bay of Plenty Times 1 November 1946 stated: "Early yesterday afternoon, a barge owned by Mr. E. G. Williams, drifted away from where it was anchored in the vicinity of the Dive Crescent railway crossing, towards Mount Maunganui. When off Sulphur Point, the barge was made secure, as a result of the efforts of those piloting one of Faulkner’s ferry boats and was later towed back towards Tauranga." From 1948- 1953 they piloted 184 ships in and out of Tauranga Harbour, before Tauranga Harbour Board was able to provide its own services.

The Bay of Plenty Times, 15 January 2020

Although the ferry boats have long since stooped plying their trade back and forwards across the harbour the name Faulkner Bros. remains inextricably linked with the early harbour history.

References
Papers Past.
Tauranga 1882- 1982. Edited by A. C. Bellamy.
Rotorua, Mount Maunganui and Tauranga Tourist Guide.