1870's - 1900's Shipping History The isolation, sparsity of settlement and lack of roads of the East Coast of the North Island combined to give rise to a surf landing service for the inhabitants. Mariners called it the "call at your farm service". It was largely run by seamen, many of them ex-whalers or navy men with experience in handling small boats. It was achieved by the farmer droving a loaded bullock wagon into the surf to create a kind of temporary "jetty" to which the surf boat would be secured, while the ship lay in the roadstead awaiting cargo. This service lasted until well into the twentieth century. The isolation of the Coast also bred parochialism which expressed itself in an extraordinary outburst of port development, with four ports being created over one hundred and sixty kilometres of coastline - Hick's Bay, Port Awanui, Tokomaru Bay and Tolaga Bay. While Gisbome was the chief port of the area, these smaller centres had no wish to share the costs of development of that port. This was typically illustrated by the indifference shown by Tolaga Bay residents to a poll among voters on the Gisborne Harbour loan, where only 29 persons bothered to vote, preferring to see improvements made to their own harbour. The coastal trade dominated the business of these outports where small steam coasters brought in supplies and general cargo and exported farm produce, mainly wool, grain and meat. The development of a local freezing works, in competition with the large one at Gisbome, was often the factor that gave the promise of a substantial shipping trade.

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