Source: Radio New Zealand
Punt operator Tom Jones and dog Yoda. Gianina Schwanecke / Country Life
Near where the muddy green of the Tuapeka meets the turquoise blue of the Clutha River there once stood a “bustling settlement”.
Back in the early days of Otago’s gold rush, Tuapeka Mouth – about 30 kilometres north-west of Balclutha – had houses on either side and at least two, maybe even three pubs, according to Tom Jones.
With no bridge, those looking to cross from one side of the river to the other had only one option – the Tuapeka Mouth Ferry.
“There used to be a lot of these crossings back in the day, gold mining days, early days of discovery.
“Between the sea and Roxburgh, there was 15 of them, so before bridges you’d float your way across,” Jones told Country Life.
“This is the last one in the southern hemisphere.”
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Jones has operated the ferry crossing for the past six years, taking people – and cars – from one side of the river to the other.
Though this is not the 1896 original, not much has changed in terms of how it functions, he explained.
“We’ve got two boats with wooden platform on the top.
“It harnesses the energy in the river in the same way that a yacht harnesses the wind in a sail, so you’ve got to turn on an angle to get any push forward or sideways as in the case of this.
“There’s a main cable upstream to stop it from being pushed downstream, and, as I say, it turns on an angle and the energy hits one side of the bow and pushes it, shimmies basically sideways.”
This is the southern hemisphere’s only still operational river ferry. Gianina Schwanecke / Country Life
The Tuapeka Mouth Ferry has been running for 130 years. Gianina Schwanecke / Country Life
The vessel requires conditions to be just right to operate though. Too much wind, the river being too high or too low means it can’t run.
When Country Life paid a visit the Clutha River was high and flowing fast – too fast to safely operate the punt – after a few days of rain.
New Zealand’s largest river in terms of volume, it normally operates with a flow of about 500 cubic metres per second but that day the flow had more than doubled.
Tom Jones has been operating the punt for six years. Gianina Schwanecke / Country Life
Conditions have to be just right to cross – the river can’t be too high or too low, and the wind can’t be too strong. Gianina Schwanecke / Country Life
The ferry is still used by locals but has also increasingly become popular with tourists in the post-Covid era, capturing a unique part of New Zealand’s history.
“There’s very little else here in Tuapeka Mouth itself.
“It’s in the middle of nowhere, but it’s something really worth discovering,” Jones said.
He estimates he does about 60 to 70 crossings each week in optimum conditions.
As a “public utility”, the ferry ride is free and it operates from 10am until 2pm most days – except for Christmas Day, Good Friday and Anzac morning.
Learn more:
- Find out more about the Tuapeka Mouth Ferry here
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
