The late arrival of the star of Waitangi Day celebrations in Oamaru - HMNZS Otago - did nothing to shorten the queue waiting to take a public tour of the patrol vessel.
Otago was scheduled to arrive off Oamaru Harbour on Tuesday night, but the 1900-tonne 85m-long vessel was delayed on the trip from Devonport by bad weather, arriving to anchor offshore about 10.30am. It was greeted by a flotilla of about 10 large and small boats, which surrounded the ship.
Those who did not get the news Otago would be late started arriving about 8.30am. A Zodiac began ferrying up to eight passengers at a time from about 11.30am.
More than 280 people toured the ship, the number limited by the boats available to take visitors out and, at times, sea conditions, which meant the Zodiacs had to be hoisted on board then off again because the landing platform and ladder could not be used.
The first Zodiac was later joined by the second from the ship after a mechanical fault was fixed, but the queue remained about 3pm.
Trips were supposed to end at 2.30pm, but continued until about 6pm because of the ship's late arrival.
Otago stayed offshore to fire a gun salute at 9pm, before departing during the night. Otago's visit was part of Waitangi Day celebrations at Oamaru Harbour, which included the first day of activities for the Scott 100 celebrations to mark the ill-fated Sir Robert Scott expedition to the South Pole.
On February 10, 1913, the expedition's ship Terra Nova arrived off Oamaru bearing the news of Scott's Antarctic expedition and its fate.
Yesterday's opening activities included unveiling a mural about 30m-long on the north side of the Oamaru Rowing Club's building overlooking the harbour. About 20 people started painting the mural in November.
The rowing club is hoping to sell naming rights for the mural to raise funds towards the $40,000 cost of reroofing the building.
The day started with the flotilla of boats, which included a traditional Ironbridge coracle paddled by John Baster, sailing around Oamaru Harbour.
In the afternoon, a multicultural concert was held at the Friendly Bay playground, followed by a picnic in the evening and the Waitangi Day concert featuring international opera singer Ramonda Taleni Te Maiharoa.
