Buoy makes ‘epic journey’
A maritime buoy that broke free of its moorings in Australia has made the ‘‘long and epic journey’’ across the Tasman, washing up on a tiny bay in the Far North nearly three years later.
Dargaville farmer Warren Suckling said the family staying at his bach in Motukahakaha Bay, just north of Taupo Bay, saw the large buoy bob into shore on February 1.
The buoy has several faded stickers on it, including one saying ‘New South Wales Roads and Maritime Services’ and another saying ‘No skiing or aquaplaning’. It also has the supplier’s name Solar Technology Australia.
Solar Technology Australia project manager Shaun Wells confirmed with the NSW Roads and Maritime Services the buoy was one of theirs. It was originally located at the Hastings River near Port Macquarie, about 400 km north of Sydney, he said.
‘‘We believe it was lost during the floods in May of 2015. The buoy was used to mark the navigable channel and had a solar navigation light installed when it was lost in a flood.’’ Wells said buoys occasionally break free of their moorings but this was a surprise.
‘‘We’ve had a few rock up in Darwin or the east coast of Australia, but it’s the first time one has made its way all the to NZ.’’
Suckling reckons the buoy weighs at least 200kg. It took five people to roll it onto the back of his ute that was backed onto the beach. Suckling has been housing the buoy at his place and was keen to add it to the maritime museum he established on his property, which contains a vast collection of shells, fish, shipwreck parts, kauri gum and fossils.
Wells said Suckling is welcome to keep the buoy, and Suckling is ‘‘absolutely thrilled’’. ‘‘It’s fantastic to add it to my collection,’’ he said. ‘‘To think it’s come all on its own, all that way...it’s been out there floating around among the ships and things for nearly three years.’’
Northland Regional Council Deputy Harbourmaster Laurence Walkinshaw says it’s ‘‘quite hard case that it’s made the long and epic journey across the Tasman’’. He says members of the public should always report incidents where buoys have come adrift.
‘‘It’s important we can relocate them back to where they belong...so they can navigate vessels safely.’’