CATCH THE FOX

For my money the Edwin Fox Museum is one of Picton’s best attractions – but I have a nagging suspicion most people driving off the Cook Strait ferry are blissfully unaware of it. Which is a great pity – considering that in her 34 circumnavigations the 836-ton, 48m vessel has amassed a treasure-trove of history – all splendidly presented in her graving dock only a few hundred metres from the ferry terminal.

She embodies an integral part of New Zealand’s DNA – helping its fledging economy to expand trading and engage with the rest of the world at the dawn of the 20 century. She is, in fact, the world’s oldest surviving merchant ship – older than Britain’s. So, before you dismiss her as another old wreck of interest only to fusty, cob-webbed historians, read on.