Motueka Wharf 100 years

The waterside town of Motueka has always been heavily dependent on its port. Over the years passenger services have operated between Riwaka, Motueka and Nelson, fishing fleets have worked the tides, fertiliser has come in shiploads and hops, tobacco, timber and livestock have gone out over the wharf. In 1955, when shipping was at its height, 276 vessels entered the harbour. There have been two wharves at Motueka and their history involves not only extremes of weather and tide but also intense local politics and a petition to Parliament to enable the formation of the Motueka Harbour Board. This book was commissioned to celebrate the centennial of the present Motueka wharf built in 1916, rebuilt and extended in ferro-cement in 1924 and now owned by Talley’s Group Ltd. It records the ships that worked the Tasman Bay port, the people who provisioned, loaded and went to sea in them and the families whose lives were bound up with the wharf.