...'ON A LESS SOMBRE NOTE'...

...Than yesterday...we find permanently moored at the beachside suburb where we are staying at the moment, the replica ship "HMS BUFFALO" 1813 - built of teak in Calcutta and originally named the "HINDOSTAN" - it was acquired by the Royal Navy, and fitted out as a store ship to carry rice in that year..

...Later, she was fitted out again - as a timber carrier, carrying kauri in New Zealand in 1831...

...Later still, it was once again fitted out as a convict ship in 1833 and carried 180 female convicts to Australia...

...She was an important ship in the history of South Australia arriving here in 1836 with 176 colonists including our eventual first Gov. of the New Colony and only 3 deaths were ever recorded on the Buffalo which was a remarkable record considering medical practices of that period and the volumes of passengers she carried...

... The "HMS BUFFALO" was wrecked in waters off New Zealand in 1840 and the wreck itself can still be visible only from the air on a clear day..
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...The replica shown here - is now a restaurant...