Memorial to Tanya Burr, killed 15 September 2002

Aged sixteen to eighteen

A family outing on a historic F-Class train excursion to Wanganui on 12 April 1998. The most notable feature of the trip was a mishap in a tunnel where the tiny loco couldn't quite cope with the weight of the carriages. All the carriages (and our lungs) filled with smoke, we couldn't see a thing, and we all got Hitler moustaches from breathing out the coal dust. This photo was possibly taken just after we exited the tunnel. 

Above: Exploring the New Plymouth foreshore during a day trip to Taranaki in January 1999. That's her by the rock!

Below: The photos above and below show an aspect of our overnight stay on Matiu/Somes Island in late January 2000. Firstly, Tanya had been dismayed to discover when travelling by harbour ferry to the island that smoking was illegal on it - and furthermore the tiny island in Wellington Harbour did not have a single shop. Then the weather turned sour - the wind blew strongly all night, and the exposed island was cold and wet. The power was out during the day as a boat anchor had snagged the cable to the mainland, and the lighthouse and DOC houses and buildings were reliant on a diesel generator which was operated for fuel efficiency. In addition, another boat anchor had snagged the water line to the mainland and there was almost no water left. Due to the weather, it was touch and go as to whether the ferry could be used that day, so we weren't certain that we would be able to leave......

So these photos are of our little party in 'Education House' discovering what it really was like to be stranded on an island. The upper photo shows the view across the harbour to Wellington - on one of the rare occasions we could actually see anything but mist. The lower photo shows the house's lounge, which has not been used as a home for some time. A couple of hours later the weather was beautiful again.

Despite her anxious start, Tanya was very keen to return some day to the peaceful solitude of Somes, with its native wildlife and its history as a quarantine station and as a POW camp. We had the good fortune to be guests there because I wrote my MA thesis about the island's POW WWI camp.