What was happening in New Zealand/Aotearoa in 1968?

A brief glimpse into who we once were.

Probably the most newsworthy event of 1968 was the sinking of the Inter-Islander ferry Wahine. It all went horribly wrong in Wellington Harbour. Cyclone Gazelle was raging and at 5.50am huge swells and winds pushed the ship onto Barrett Reef which damaged both the steering and the hull. The Captain tried to steer back into deeper water but failed and by 11.00am, it capsized near Seatoun Beach.

There were 734 people aboard and 51 of them died, either drowned or succumbing to injuries either before making it to shore or after they were rescued. Lots of incredibly brave people set out in small boats to help with the rescue but it was nightmarish and an unholy disaster.

I remember what we always refer to as The Wahine Storm because we lived on a remote hilltop farm around Awakeri. I was 7 years old and Dad was away at a Federated Farmers Conference in Gisborne and the storm was so intense that Mum out us all in hers and Dad’s bed covering us up with blankts and an eiderdown because we could literally see the windows bowing in the wind and feared they would implode.

In the morning the chicken coop had been blown hundreds of yards into the bush and the 2 mile driveway was impassable for several days until neighbours came looking for us and cleared the many trees that had fallen across the drive.

We had another couple of farms down on the plains and on the old home farm, the sharemilker and his family wisely escaped the house and took refuge in the pig sty. That house was largely destroyed.

Just a final note about our home. It withstood the Wahine Storm, but it was sobering when 19 years later, the Edgecumbe Earthquake flattened the house to the ground and appeared on the front page of the Herald.

Speaking of earthquakes, 1968 also saw the Inangahua Earthquake in May, only a month after the great storm. It had a magnitude of 7.1 and was particularly severe because it was shallow which made the shaking far more intense than if it had been deeper. Three people died. Two in a house collapse and one in a landslide. 50 houses were completely destroyed and the damage to infrastructure was huge.

In October, the domestic airline was still called NAC and they introduced the first of the 737 jetliners on the major routes. They replaced some gorgeous old planes – the fabulous Douglas DC-3, the venerable Vickers Viscount and the Fokker Friendship, which continued for a long time on regional routes.

The Vietnam War was raging pointlessly in 1968 and in March, our Whisky and Victor Companies integrated with the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Aussie Regiment and formed an ANZAC battalion that went to Vietnam.

Protest was a big feature of life for the young people of the motu in 1968 and special attention was given to anti-war protest as we hosted the SEATO (South East Asian Treaty Organisation).

There was a demographic milestone this year. For the first time in our history, females outnumbered males with a giddying lead of 100 women for every 99.8 men. Latest statistics indicate that although blokes have been hanging in there gamely, females are still ahead with 50.23% of the quota. I’m all good with that. I hope you are too.

Television grew up a lot with the first episode of Gallery, presented by Brian Edwards. It was our first real foray into current affairs in a form that would stand up internationally. Brian Edwards went of to be an extraordinary broadcaster for many decades. Go Brian.

In music circles, Allison Dubin won the Loxene Golden Disc Award for her fabo song I Have Loved Me A Man. Check it out here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2Qmnmsajxw&ab_channel=nzoz1971

This was the inaugural year for the Wattie Book Awards, which lasted for 26 years before becoming the NZ Book Awards in 1994 and has now morphed into the Ockham NZ Book Awards. In 1968 the winner was The New Zealand Sea Shore. I’m not familiar with it but with such a riveting title, I’m sure it was a rollicking bodice-ripper and well done to John Morton and Michael Miller. Kidding. It was a scientific work about our diverse marine ecosystem and had pictures and everything.

In cultural news, 1968 saw the release of the milkshake cup known as The Longest Drink In Town. It was blue and red giraffe branded vessel and could be found at dairies across this fine land.

In sport, the men’s coxed fours won rowing gold at the Mexico Olympics and Mike Ryan got bronze in the marathon and Ian Ballinger got bronze in small bore shooting. Just as an aside, I can think of a few small bores I wouldn’t mind shooting, but that’s a different story for a different time.

So, I guess that’s who we were in 1968.

Love to hear your stories.