Great Voyages of New Zealand

2012 was a fitting time to look at New Zealand’s maritime history, as it marked a number of significant anniversaries, including 50 years of the Cook Strait Inter-Island Rail and Road Service. 100 years had passed since the Earnslaw was successfully launched, and it had been 130 years since the Dunedin completed the first successful shipment of frozen meat between New Zealand and England.

Those important milestones were celebrated in the Great Voyages of New Zealand stamp issue along with waka, which transported people and trade goods across Cook Strait, and the Rotomahana – the first ocean-going ship built of mild steel.

Whether they were enabling trade, increasing efficiencies or transporting people, each of the vessels in the Great Voyages of New Zealand stamp issue had a unique story to tell.

Great Voyages on Great Collectables

This issue included a miniature sheet, first day cover and miniature sheet first day cover. The first day covers featured imagery of historical nautical maps as well as two unique datestamps.

The premium collectable was the Limited Edition. It contained a booklet written by Neill Atkinson and gave an in-depth history of New Zealand’s maritime trade history. Neill was Chief Historian at the Ministry for Culture and Heritage. He has written several books on New Zealand’s political, labour and transport history. Plate blocks of each of the five stamps were included within the booklet. This highly collectable Limited Edition also contained a special first day cover signed by Neill Atkinson, a unique numbered miniature sheet, a complete set of stamps and colour  separations of the $2.90 stamp.

Acknowledgements

New Zealand Post acknowledged the following for their assistance and guidance in bringing together this special stamp release celebrating great voyages of New Zealand:

• Victor Young
• Alexander Turnbull Library
• Hocken Collections Uare Taoka o Hākena, University of Otago
• Real Journeys
• PIM Collection
• KiwiRail
• Museum of City and Sea
• Gavin McLean, Senior Historian, Manatū Taonga - Guest writer, presentation pack
• Neill Atkinson, Chief Historian, Manatū Taonga - Ministry for Culture and Heritage - Guest writer, Limited Edition

Product Listing for Great Voyages of New Zealand

Image	Title	Description	Price
	Single Stamp	Single 70c 'Aramoana' gummed stamp. The Aramoana’s big stern door transformed domestic transport in 1962. Prior to then, double-handling had made it too costly and slow for rail to compete with coastal ships, but roll-on, roll-off ships seamlessly connected the islands. In 2012 five such ships formed a ‘floating bridge’. The 4,160-ton road/rail ferry Aramoana served until 1984.	$0.70
	Single Stamp	Single $1.40 'Waka' gummed stamp. Over time Māori developed a range of distinctive dugout canoes ranging from the imposing waka taua (war canoes) to the humbler fishing canoes, river canoes and reed and flax craft. Usually paddled but sometimes assisted by mat sails, the bigger vessels could transport large quantities of people and trade goods across Cook Strait.	$1.40
	Single Stamp	Single $1.90 'Earnslaw' gummed stamp. Tourists walk the triple - expansion steamer Earnslaw’s decks these days, but 100 years ago the ‘Lady of the Lake’ was a hard-working passenger, freight and livestock carrier, one of several linking the isolated farms and settlements of Lake Wakatipu. Designed and built in Dunedin and reassembled at the lakeside in 1912, the Earnslaw still burns coal today.	$1.90
	Single Stamp	Single $2.40 'Dunedin' gummed stamp. In 1874 the Albion Line (later Shaw Savill & Albion) commissioned the 1,320-ton Dunedin for the immigrant trade, which it served until being converted in 1881 to carry frozen meat. A regular caller to Oamaru, the Dunedin vanished with all 35 crew after sailing from that port for London in March 1890; the ship probably hit an iceberg.	$2.40
	Single Stamp	Single $2.90 'Rotomahana' gummed stamp. With its rakish bow, masts and funnel, the Rotomahana looked like an elegant steam yacht. The first ocean-going ship built of mild steel, the 15.5- knot ‘Greyhound of the Pacific’ spearheaded the Union Steam Ship Company’s grab for the trans-Tasman trade in the late 1870s. The 1,727-ton ship later served on the Wellington-Lyttelton and Melbourne-Hobart runs before being discarded in 1925.	$2.90
	Miniature Sheet	Mint, used or cancelled gummed miniature sheet.	$9.30
	First Day Cover	First day cover with five gummed stamps affixed.	$9.80
	Miniature Sheet First Day Cover	First day cover with gummed miniature sheet affixed.	$9.80
	Presentation Pack	Presentation pack which included five gummed stamps, the miniature sheet and the first day cover. The presentation pack had a strong nautical theme and was written by Gavin McLean, Senior Historian at the Ministry for Culture and Heritage.	$29.90
	Limited Edition	The premium collectable in the Great Voyages of New Zealand stamp issue was the limited edition. It contained a booklet written by Neill Atkinson, and contained a set of plate blocks for each stamp. The limited edition also contained a special first day cover signed by Neill Atkinson, a unique numbered miniature sheet, a complete set of stamps and colour separations of the $2.90 stamp.	$135.00