One of the oldest tourist attractions in Central Otago is the 1912 vintage steamship TSS Earnslaw.
Way back at the beginning of the twentieth century, New Zealand Railways awarded 21,000 pounds to John McGregor and Co shipbuilders of Dunedin to build a steamship for Lake Wakatipu. The Earnslaw was named after the giant Mt Earnslaw , a 3060 metre peak at the head of Lake Wakatipu. She was to be 48 metres long , the biggest boat on the lake. Transporting the Earnslaw was no easy task. When construction was finally completed she was dismantled. All the quarter inch steel hull plates were numbered for reconstruction just like a puzzle! Then the boat was railed by goods train nearly all the way across the South Island from Dunedin to Kingston at the bottom end of Lake Wakatipu.
Six months later, after being rebuilt, in February 1912, the Earnslaw was launched and fired up for her maiden voyage to Queenstown. Her captain was the Minister of Marine, so the ship must have been fairly important to have a minister as her skipper.
She then became a valuable vessel for the New Zealand Railways and was known as the Grand Lady of the Lake.
The Earnslaw worked with her sister ships, the paddlesteamers Antrim and Mountaineer and the steamer Ben Lomond, transporting sheep, cattle and passengers
to the surrounding high country stations.
In 1968, the Earnslaw was very nearly scrapped but she was fortunately rescued because of her historic value to the people of Queenstown.
She was taken out of service for a huge makeover in 1984. Her 12 metre high funnel was painted bright red, with the hull a snow white, and her kauri timber decks glassed
in.
During her long years on the lake, the most serious accidents to occur were two groundings on the shingle shores of the lake.
In March 1990, the Earnslaw carried two very special passengers, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip. Other royalty to travel on board have been the King and Queen of Belgium and the Prince of Thailand.
Working fourteen hour days in the summer months and cruising 11 months of the year
is not bad for a beautiful steam ship over 91 years old.
