A Cruise Aboard The Steam Ship TSS Earnslaw

Conrad – 5/5/00

The TSS Earnslaw backs out of its berth at the start of another cruise. Click here for a larger version

A few weeks ago I was fortunate to be able to go on holiday down in Wanaka for about five days. On one of those days we drove around to Queenstown (about one and a half hours) and took a
cruise on the TSS Earnslaw, a vintage steam ship which makes daily trips on Lake Wakatipu between Queenstown on the Lake’s Eastern shore, to Walter Peak High Country Farm on the Western side.

The cruise lasts one and a half hours and there is the option to stop at Walter Peak and have morning or afternoon tea, a farm tour, and return to Queenstown on a later sailing. It’s a great way to see the Lake and view Queenstown from a different perspective, plus of course an opportunity to get the feel of travelling on a steam ship.

Before I go on with describing the cruise though, I’ll just describe one part of the journey between Christchurch and Wanaka. We decided to take the inland route though Geraldine and Tekapo as it is more scenic, and this was my four and a half year old’s first road trip that far south. The journey from Christchurch to Geraldine has been documented in
this article, from Geraldine through to Tekapo and Mount Cook in this article, and from there through to Te Anau, past the turn off to Queenstown, in this article.

What isn’t in those articles though, and the reason I’m digressing like this, is that as we travelled between Fairlie and Tekapo I noticed the car in front of us pull over, a man jumped out, and he started tying something to the fence. It was a fairly unusual looking fence too, being completely covered in footwear for about sixty to eighty metres. So I drove back and took this photo in which you can see about a quarter of the part covered in footwear. I get the feeling it is being added to constantly, so if you’re ever driving this way look out for it – who knows how long it will get?

The footwear fence – sizes and styles to fit all. Click here to see it a bit more clearly

Back on the Earnslaw – we took the option of the two way trip without the stop off at the farm. Sailings leave regularly throughout the day and during the summer season (October to April) an extra three sailings are added so that they leave every two hours from 10.00am, with the last trip starting at 8.00pm.

The first impression many people get of the ship is the volume at which the steam driven whistle blows just before departure. You can hear it all around Queenstown and if you’re nearby and unprepared it’ll give you enough of a fright to make you jump. I expect many a drink at the nearby outdoor bars and cafes have been spilled as a result.

Looking back towards the bridge and funnel from the front deck.

Looking back towards the bridge and funnel from the front deck. That’s my Mother, Father and son in front.

Once on board you have the choice of three decks indoors and one outside. You can also stand next to the bridge on the upper deck and watch the captain steering and sending signals to the engine room using the old lever system – for example literally "Full Steam Ahead". The funnel runs down through the middle of the ship to the engine room and you can place your hand on it where it comes through the middle deck and feel the heat. Not for very long though.

There is a cafe and bar on the upper deck with special tourist prices. On the middle deck there is a ‘saloon’ with a piano and pianist, and passengers are invited to join in a sing-a-long there. When I went past they were singing "It’s a long way to Tipperary", and later on "Maybe it’s because I’m a Londoner" which seemed to suit the demographics of the group who were singing.

On the first deck, the level at which you board, there is a quite large opening down to the engine room two levels below, so that you can see the engines and the firemen stoking the boilers. There is also a large coloured flow diagram which clearly shows how the engines work. Standing over the rails around the opening gives you an appreciation of how hot the engine room is. There is another level below however which gives the public access to walk across metal gangways right through the engine room.

Checking to see if the baked potatoes are cooked.

Stoking the fire.

Here you can see the steam, the pressure gauges and pipes, and really feel the heat. Every now and then the two firemen would shovel coal in to the boilers. It takes one ton of coal per hour to keep the twin steam engines running at the required 500 horse power, and her cruising speed is thirteen knots.

The TSS Earnslaw is named after the highest peak in the Wakatipu region Mount Earnslaw. The TSS stands for Twin Screw Steamer. She is one hundred and sixty eight feet in length, twenty four feet across the beam and weighs 330 tons. She was originally built in Dunedin in 1912, and was then dismantled and taken to Kingston at the southern end of Lake Wakatipu to be reassembled. She survived World War Two when many other steam ships were used for scrap, and has been used variously as a cargo ship, livestock carrier, passenger transporter and pleasure steamer. The engine room today is still the same as it was in 1912.

By the end of the cruise we had thoroughly explored the ship. You can also follow a guided tour round and get any questions answered. Like I said at the start, it’s a great way to see the Lake and view Queenstown from a different perspective. We went in summer, and I expect that in Winter the snow covered scenery, with the lakeside hills rising to the heights of the Remarkables mountain range, would be quite spectacular.