NORTHERN ADVOCATE The Wright stuff: Young Northlander savouring time at sea

25 Jun, 2022 05:00 AM2 minutes to read

Ordinary communications warfare specialist Cameron Wright, from Ruakākā, on the HMNZS Wellington during a stop in Ōpua. Photo / Peter de Graaf

By 

Peter de Graaf

Reporter

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Among the crew on the HMNZS Wellington when it called into Ōpua this week was a 20-year-old Northlander savouring his first experience at sea with the Navy.

The 85m offshore patrol vessel is three weeks into a month-long mission training the crew to protect the ship from, among other things, floods, fires and civil unrest.

Cameron Wright, from Ruakākā, attended Bream Bay College before landing a job on a tug boat at Northport.

He signed up with the Royal New Zealand Navy just over a year ago.

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"I had a cousin who was in the Navy. He used to tell me stories about his deployments. I thought, 'Why not join up and see what the commotion is about?'"

Wright, whose title is ordinary communications warfare specialist, initially worked in MIQ (Managed Isolation and Quarantine).

It wasn't exactly what he had in mind when he joined the navy but now he's enjoying his first posting on a ship and training for his next step up the ranks to an able rating.

'Protesters' target Navy ship in Ōpua

21 Jun, 2022 05:00 AM

4 minutes to read

'Protesters' used skip bins and pallets to protect themselves from fire hoses as they tried to storm the ship. Photo / Peter de Graaf

By 

Peter de Graaf

Reporter

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A Navy vessel was pelted with eggs and road cones in Ōpua yesterday by protesters who tried to cut through the ship's mooring ropes with a chainsaw.

They tried to storm the vessel three times, using pallets and skip bins to protect themselves from the high-pressure fire hoses directed against them by the ship's personnel.

The crew eventually had to resort to rifles, causing a number of casualties among the protesters.

Fortunately, it was all just an exercise and the shots fired were only blanks — though there was nothing fake about the fire hoses.

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The aim was to prepare the crew in case they ever become embroiled in civil strife during deployments around the Pacific.

'Protesters' lob eggs at the Wellington during Monday's exercise. Photo / Peter de Graaf

The "protesters" — led by a very convincing Henry Matangi, a Navy base operations warrant officer from Whangārei — were members of the ship's crew playing the part of locals from the fictional country of Avalon, where New Zealanders are apparently not welcome.

The HMNZS Wellington, an 85m offshore patrol vessel with up to 80 crew, was on its second visit to Ōpua during its current four-week training voyage.