Ahoy;- Here a current up date on the voyage of the 'City of Adleaide"
The historic City of Adelaide clipper ship will dock in Australian waters today for the first time in 125 years after a three-month sea voyage from the United Kingdom. The hull will reach Port Hedland in Western Australia's Pilbara region on board a heavy-lift ship before making the last leg of its journey to its new resting place in Port Adelaide.
The City of Adelaide has twice crossed the Atlantic on its final sea voyage, stopping over in the United States. The clipper will arrive "looking like a giant white parcel in its quarantine wrapping," according to Peter Christopher from the vessel's preservation trust.
Mr Christopher says it comes after a 14-year campaign by maritime historians, enthusiasts and descendants of the original passengers to save it. "It's quite an amazing day. After 125 years since it was last here, the 1864 clipper ship City of Adelaide will be back," he said.
"The next thing is we'll take on-going conservation work to ensure it doesn't deteriorate and it's preserved for future generations. "We then hope to establish a seaport village in the inner harbour of Port Adelaide, where not only will the ship be displayed and people will be able to visit it and see it and go on it, but also have a whole range of other maritime-type activities."
Mr Christopher says the City of Adelaide left London last year, carried by the MV Palanpur, before docking in the Netherlands. "From Rotterdam it's gone to Norfolk, Virginia in the United States where six locomotives were also loaded on to the heavy lift ship as shared cargo," he said.
"From there to Cape Town for refuelling. From there to today's situation ... the first time in well over a century that the City of Adelaide will be back in Australia." The City of Adelaide is the last remaining clipper of those which transported migrants to Australia in the 19th century. Over more than two decades it brought many British, German and other settlers to the new colony of South Australia. In the 1920s the City of Adelaide was renamed HMS Carrick and used as a navy training ship in Scotland. The hull was rotting on the banks of the Clyde until a restoration project began and it was towed to the River Thames in London on a barge. During a ceremony last year, Prince Philip bestowed the sailing ship's original name back on her. Federal backing of $850,000 has helped to fund the clipper's final voyage to Australia.The clipper is expected to arrive at Port Adelaide on January 31, but that could vary depending on the weather and on how long it takes to off-load the six trains at Port Hedland.
