WOODY WHANGAREI HOUSEBOAT
The above painting of todays woody comes to us from Barb Hudson via the NZ cars, boats, motorcycles fb page and is captioned ‘Hone Houseboat Whangarei’.
The question for woodys is “did the boat actual exist or someones creative freehand”. If it is or was an actual boat do we know anything about the vessel.
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Greg Philpott sent in the b/w press clipping below , taken form the ’Northland Holiday – 20 March 1978. The HONE was built in WW1 as a freight carrier servicing war ships. She was retired c.1948.
Paul Shaw sent in the colour photo that he found posted by David/Janet Matthews on “Whangarei Way Back When” fb of the same houseboats near Kissing Point, Whangarei. And commented that you couldn’t miss them anytime you drove between the city centre & Onerahi.
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More photos and details added. Alan H
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Yes they were there that boat was the Kea, the penthouse on top was added in later years.
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Perhaps a little “artistic interpretation” in the picture, but there were 3 or 4 similar houseboats in the mangroves beside the road leading from central Whangarei to Onerahi. They were built on the hulls of old wooden lighters, and as the hulls rotted away and sank into the mud, the houses built on them gained another storey. I’m not sure if the houses themselves also rotted away or were demolished (by the authorities?) but they’ve been gone for many years now.
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