Aotearoa chief

Aotearoa chief

This is a digital artwork that you can print at your local print shop onto canvas or other materials. 

The dimensions of the design are 4780x3344

By puchasing this artwork you'll help this special artist continue creating new images inspired by our beautiful harbourside.

Thank-you for your support!

The Aotearoa Chief and Childhood Memories

The Aotearoa Chief sits at the end of the Long Wharf (see picture of the Long Wharf). It's a cement carrier that comes and goes up and down the harbour, and the crew gives us a wave when we are nearby. I quite like ships, although I've never been on one like that.

This reminds me of when I went in the Tall Ships Race in 1976 in the Bay of Islands. I jumped ship and swam to the Cleroboug, one of the last of the brigantines. The Cleroboug later sunk off the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.

At the time, I was about 8 years old and living on the yacht Spray, a gaff-rigged yawl built in Great Yarmouth in 1910. She was made from pitch pine below the waterline, with mahogany topsides and yellow pine decks. She is still floating today in 2025 at the Opua Marina.