Wahine

April 10th

The 40th anniversary of the most well known maritime disaster in New Zealand history.

I watched a documentary on this last night. It was difficult to imagine the day, knowing that it took place literally 500m from my classroom. Difficult because there is only a small amount of grainy footage and black and white images from the day. So the doco had lots of filler film of crashing waves, rolling cloud and slow pans of surf. All with a suitable grey/blue effect.

But the stories - simple ones. But stunningly sad ones. Brutal even.

We planted a pohutakawa at school today and students went out onto the beach, that we now run our fitness sessions on, to watch the Interislander lay a wreath on the spot near Barretts Reef, where the Wahine sank.

On a clear day, like today, it's a struggle to imagine how close history can be.