Scotts Ferry

Scotts Ferry dates from the time when the road from Whanganui to Wellington followed the coastline. The ferry at the settlement serviced the district from 1850 until 1908. The family-run horse-drawn barge was one of a network of such services which ensured the flow of transport around New Zealand's regions in the days before railways and road bridges.
Thomas Scott, a colourful character of Scottish origin, was an immigrant to the Wellington region in the 1840s, with his wife Annie. Accounts were that he was a hard-working and spirited settler who served in the fledgling police force during the time of battles with Ngati Toa and Te Rauparaha. His main business however, was carrying mail from Wellington to Wanganui when the road was nothing more than a beach. He and Annie and their seven children settled at the mouth of the Rangitikei river, setting up 'Scott's Ferry' between Tangimoana and Parewanui in 1849. The location became a landmark on the arduous journey, because of the hospitable inn run by Mrs Scott, which also included a trading post and post office. Scott himself ran the horse-drawn rope-ferry from this time until his death in 1891, his second wife continuing the service until Council took it over in 1908.
One and the same barge today rests on the riverbank here, its Totara and Matai timbers having remained solid while the barge was at work, but deteriorating after the demise of the service thanks to erosion of the port in 1987. Both Tangimoana and Parewanui have long been at high risk of flooding, being at the mouth of the Rangitikei. In one recent flood the barge was picked up and floated several paddocks away, but was dragged back by tractor before the water went down.
Heritage-invested locals have set restoration plans in motion for the barge.
Scott's Ferry is an official place name, representing a dead-end road, a riverbank, a handful of modest homes, and the casual Scotts Ferry Camping Ground. The Parewanui Presbyterian Church where Scott is buried is no longer.
With nearby Bulls capitalising on its bizarre name, Scotts Ferry's handful of characterful residents have created their own in-joke which is actually an "Inn-Joke". The town's main claim to fame was the historical Inn, so they have thoughtfully renamed various properties as varieties of Inn, the verbal humour displayed as clever puns on yellow signs.