The 'Middle Island' Ferry

It's been on my mind for years that we need a low-cost, passenger-only fast ferry service across Te Moana o Raukawa, aimed at backpackers, day-trippers, and others who are travelling without cars. The passenger ferry across Te Ara a Kiwa, from Bluff to Rakiura (Stuart Island), is example of a boat that could be used for such a service. A smaller boat like this would be easier to power with renewable energy, potentially lowering the costs of operation, increasing the sustainability of the service, and giving it a selling point for eco-conscious travellers.

The fast ferries from Te Whanganui-a-Tara to Picton were shut down because of the environmental impact of running a large ship at high speed through the Sounds. A smaller boat, carrying only people would have a negligable impact on sensitive Sounds shores, even at high speeds. Besides which, instead of competing with the 'Tara to Picton ferries, a passenger-only ferry could service Taranaki, Kapiti, Maitai (Nelson), Motueka and Te Tai Tapu (Golden Bay).

In pre-european times, crossing the strait in a waka on a sunny afternoon was much easier than crossing the chains of mountains that separate the east cost from the west in most of the country. This meant that the south-west corner of Te Ika a Maui (south island), and the north-west corner of Te Tai Pounamu (north island) were effectively a 'middle island', bounded by mountain ranges.

Now that the Interislander is back in public ownership, perhaps a forward-looking KiwiRail management (owners of the Interislander) could get the 'middle island' ferry up and running? Or perhaps it could be an opportunity for some of the iwi for whom the 'middle island' is their traditional paddling ground? Let's get really ambitious; what about a business co-operative, run by and employing people from the communities which would be visited by the service?