Hundreds of Picton-bound ferry passengers booked on the cancelled Aratere faced a wait of at least 3 1/2 hours yesterday as Tranz Rail shuffled passengers onto other ferries.
The 8 am Lynx was an hour late leaving Wellington, and remaining passengers from the cancelled 6.30 am Aratere sailing travelled on the 9.30 am Arahura sailing.
Despite the cancellation, vehicle passengers on the Aratere still had to report at 5.30 am. It was put out of action because of bearings problems.
Lower Hutt passenger Rebecca Wilson said she resorted to shock tactics to make sure that she was guaranteed a place on the 9.30 am sailing.
Travelling with her horse Drachenfels and dog Jess, she said she was furious after being unable to contact anyone through Tranz Rail's customer telephone line.
"I'm in a unique situation - I've got a horse and you can't just leave it standing in a horse box for four hours," she said.
"I have to admit I made a lot of fuss. I burst into tears at the ticket office and screamed and yelled at everybody.
"When reasonable behaviour doesn't work, just let loose."
Further complications developed when Ms Wilson discovered that a penguin had taken refuge under the horse float.
"I didn't want to leave until it had moved in case I ran over it," she said.
Te Kuiti passenger Russell Read was held up trying to get to the national paragliding championships.
"I was told I couldn't ring the terminal [to find out when the sailing would be rescheduled], so I was forced to drive a couple of hours through the night for a sailing I knew was going to be cancelled," he said.
"I was told that if I didn't check in [at 5.30 am] for the 6.30 am sailing I would be treated as a no-show and be entitled to only half my refund."
Tranz Rail spokesman Paul Goldsmith said the company's aim had been to get affected passengers away on alternative sailings "within two or three hours."
Passengers phoning Tranz Rail would have heard a message explaining the situation, he said, "but it was better to be on the spot" in case they missed alternative sailings.
Mr Goldsmith said passengers unable to travel would be refunded.
Up to 600 people on two voyages south were affected by the cancellation of the Aratere sailings.
A bearings problem was initially found in one engine, but after a further inspection all four engines were found to be affected.
Engine parts for the Aratere are being flown from Britain and the ferry is expected to be back in service by Friday.
- NZPA
Disarray after cancelled ferry sailing
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