A second Royal New Zealand Navy ship has docked at the Port of Tauranga in less than a week. The HMNZS Canterbury cruised into the Tauranga Harbour yesterday and will stay for the weekend. Four Tauranga teenagers were invited on board to check out the impressive 9000-tonne military vessel which
Tauranga students tour HMNZS Canterbury
Bay of Plenty Times
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Sarah-Jane Stone, Hayley Thomas, Saffron O'Donnell and Ella Carlsen. Photo / Zoe Hunter
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A crisp morning breeze combs the girls' hair as the inflatable cuts through the waves closer to the Navy ship.
"Yahoo," Royal New Zealand Navy Warrant Officer Reece Golding lets out a cheer, as he breathes in the fresh salt air.
"It's a beautiful morning, couldn't get any better."
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The inflatable boat edges parallel to the ship before it is hoisted upwards for the passengers to climb aboard.
Once on deck, a view of Mauao can be seen from all angles and provides a perfect backdrop.
"It's beautiful," says Martin Walker, who was made the ship's commanding officer just three weeks earlier.
Walker joined the Royal New Zealand Navy in 1989 as a midshipman and undertook common and professional training at HMNZS Tamaki before posting to sea at the beginning of 1990.
"Tauranga was my first port on the HMNZS Tui," he says. "It is awesome to be back again."
Watchkeeper Alexander Hart is also looking forward to being back in the Mount.
The former Mount Maunganui College student joined the navy in 2017 and has never looked back.
"I love it here," he says. "I love the sea and joining the navy had always in the back of my mind."
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Hart's love and loyalty for the navy is evident as he leads Mount Maunganui College students Ella Carlsen, Saffron O'Donnell, Hayley Thomas and Tauranga Girls' College's Sarah-Jane Stone on a tour of the HMNZS Canterbury.
Seventeen-year-old Ella Carlsen says her koro, who served in the New Zealand Army before he passed away on Anzac Day 2019, would be watching over her as she toured the navy ship.
"It is very eye-opening seeing what he might have seen," she says. "You don't get to do this every day."
Saffron O'Donnell's father Murray O'Donnell joined the Royal New Zealand Navy in 1964.
"It is cool to see how he lived. It makes me understand him a lot more," says the 16-year-old.
Tauranga Girls' College student Sarah-Jane Stone hopes to one day become a medic with the navy.
The 15-year-old cricketer hopes to continue her sporting career as well as serve in the navy. "I can still play my sport as well as serve my country," she says.
Hayley Thomas, 18, says the tour helped to cement her aspirations of becoming a navy engineer.
"It is really valuable to form connections and hear their stories and take their advice," she says.
Specifications
Displacement: 9000 tonnes
Beam: 23.4m
Draught: 5.4m
Length: 131m
Speed: 20 knots
Range: 6000+ nautical miles at 18 knots
Complement: 78 (core crew), 10 (flight personnel), 4 (Government agencies), 7 (army ship's staff), 24 (trainees), 243 (embarked force). Total 366
Two medium landing craft (23m/60 tonnes)
