| Type : |
Wooden paddlewheel
steam ship |
| Launched : |
1885 |
| Builder : |
David Drake Pyrmont, NSW |
| Gross weight : |
202 tons |
| Dimensions : |
121.00 x 21.00 x 7.00 (feet) |
| Passenger capacity : |
688 |
| Speed : |
unknown |
Bunya Bunya was a paddlewheel ferry owned and operated by the North Shore Steam Ferry Company (later Sydney Ferries Limited). Launched on the 28th of July 1885 by Miss Ruth Summerbell (daughter of the manager), she was a nearly identical sister to the Waratah II launched shortly before.
She entered service in early October 1885 and was one of three big ferries (including Waratah II and Victoria) that operated on the high capacity Milsons Point to Circular Quay route. Like many other ferries of the time she also ran as an excursion boat and ran on special events including to the many regattas on the river.
She remained out of trouble (unusual in those days) for several years until her first tangle (with Wallaby) at Circular Quay on the 17th of January 1893 - little damage was done to either vessel. A more serious accident occured on the 8th of June of the same year when she was rammed by the collier Tamar off Dawes Point. The ferry was close to sinking and she was rescued and towed by Kangaroo; beached at Milsons Point she ws soon patched up and returned to service. In a Marine Board enquiry the Tamar was found to be at fault and her master was fined one hundred pounds.
By late in the century many people were complaining about the safety aspects of the ferries and believed that a serious accident on the busy harbour was bound to occur leading to a great loss of life. In answer, the company installed four rooftop flotation devices on the three sisters, each capable of supporting twenty five people each. Although the capacity of the ferry was 700, this satisfied regulations of the time.
A couple of years later in 1900 during a refit, Bunya Bunya had electric lights installed.
On November the 29th of the following year she had her third and final accident - this time with the harbour ferry Kurraba, fortunately neither ferry suffered much in the way of damage and was able to continue.
In 1905 the ferry company withdrew all the remaing paddlers (except the horse ferries) and laid them up as spares at their base. By this stage the screw steamers were faster and bigger and the older boats were no longer suitable. On occasion they were used as relief boats when the screw steamers were engaged on excursion trips on holidays, this often led to an outcry amongst the northside citizens.
Finally, on the 1st of February 1910, Bunya Bunya along with her sister Waratah was offered for sale by auction.She was sold to Moreland Smelting Works, at the time the largest scrap metal merchants in the country, although based in Melbourne. Likely they were after the copper sheathing on the hull.
She was again offered for sale on the 21st of May of that year - advertised as a "potential houseboat, small cost to convert". This is likely to have been a succesful sale for we again find her for sale late in 1913 and described as "a houseboat, ready to live in".
It would appear that there were no takers however as she was broken up the following year.