The Saltwater Highways The Story Of Ports And Shipping In New Zealand

Description

New Zealand, a country ‘rinsed by the sea’, has a shipping story to tell as long and convoluted as its coastline. Thoroughly researched, with an eye for a good yarn but also with an acute sense of the shifting social and political changes over the years, McLauchlan tells an informative and engaging tale. Divided into five parts, the book covers the early colonial days; the developing (and still functioning) ports, working on the wharves, port reform and the move, in later years, to containers. The narrative is always lively, picking out the most salient and fascinating elements of what might otherwise be a rambling history of little relevance to today’s   reader.Features:The controversial and very fraught times of union agitation on the wharves in the 1930’s and 40’s.The subsequent age of reform an shipping and workplace practices.The shift to the container age and related advantages, issues and controversies.Detailed histories of the development of all the still-functioning ports around the country – Auckland, wellington, Nelson, Whanganui, New Plymouth, Bluff, Dunedin/Port Chalmers, Lyttelton, Westland, Timaru, Napier, Gisborne, Whangarei  and Tauranga.

Author description

Gordon McLauchlan is a well-known journalist, author and seasoned media commentator not afraid to speak his mind.