Hello
today we went into town. Dad had heard that both NZ & Australia had Navy ships tied up at the overseas terminal. We went it to have a look. The New Zealand one is called HMNZS Te Mana and is tied up on the outside. Austalia's "Melbourne" is tied up to the wharf.
We walked from Oriental Bay to the Overseas Terminal and when we got there, there was a few people getting off the boat. Dad asked the security if we were able to have a look and they said yes it is open to the public.
We had to go across the deck of Melbourne and then up another gangway to get onto Te Mana. We went into where they have the helicopter. It has it's wings folded up to fit into the "hanger". We then followed the arrows all around the ship. Through narrow passageways, up really steep ladders and out onto decks and back in again. All the doors had big high steps to get over them.
We were allowed into the Operations Room. This has lots of radars. The radar can see things 265 miles away. The sailor told us that they were by Tauranga and could pick up the planes leaving Wellington airport. The Captain has a big seat in the middle of the operations room and the man told me I was allowed to sit in it.
We went onto the bridge. They showed us how there are cameras on the top of the ship and he could move the camera around with a little joystick. Apparently the motor in the ship is the same as a 747 plane.
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This is me and Dad out on one of the decks. The small boat with the outboard motor is on the Melbourne. That is how close they are.
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And this is us on top of the deck.
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this is us back on the wharf by the Melbourne. One of the sailors from the Te Mana took it for us.
It is a big ship and was really good being able to have a look at it.
Love from Hannah
