Lyr Add: Auckland to the Bluff

Subject: Lyr Add: Auckland to the Bluff
From: GUEST,Rick Pollay
Date: 07 Aug 23 - 03:01 PM

Auckland to the Bluff
Rudy Sunde (New Zealand) 1981
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVzcMVcayWI

I left the city when just a lad
Times were hard. No work to be had
I went to sea on the Flora Belle
Little did I know 'twas a ship from hell
The ship was old and leakin’ at the seams
A dirty old tub, somewhat broad in the beam
Its sails were torn Some planks were rotten
It lay at the wharf a-gent-ly rockin’
I've sailed from Auckland to the Bluff
A thousand miles and that's enough
A thousand miles on the heaving sea
        Glory Hallelujah - that's enough for me

We set sail on the evening tide
It was early on a Saturday night
All went well till the Tiri light
And then, by God, I got a fright
The ship was hit by a big beam sea
Christ, I thought, it was over for me
She rolled and she lollopped like a big tin drum
Hell! I swore my time had come
CHORUS

"Shorten sails" the skipper cried
"Shorten sails or you buggers will all die
Get aloft, get aloft, right up the mast
Get aloft, get aloft, and get up there fast"
Never in my life had I been so scared
Never in my life had I wished I was dead
But I climbed up the mast and I shortened sail
And I climbed down again and was sick o'er the rail
CHORUS

"Man the pumps!" the skipper roared
"Man the pumps or you'll see the ocean floor!"
So I pumped all night though me hands were raw
And I pumped and I pumped till the coming of the dawn
How we survived that night I don't know
The wind it did roar and the wind it did blow
But the sun came up and the sea went down
The wind it did ease and we headed South
I've sailed from Auckland to the Bluff
A thousand miles and that's enough
A thousand miles on the heaving sea
        Glory Hallelu' that's enough for me

For breakfast we had mouldy bread
Lunch was the very same fare
Supper was a stinking stew
Cookie couldn't eat his own damn brew
The skipper was an old man, old and mean
Tough as nails and just as lean
A voice like a foghorn in the gloom
When he cursed it was the voice of doom
CHORUS

The work was hard and the pay was lean
The food was rotten and our quarters none too clean
A journey south was always rough
So I jumped the ship when we pulled into Bluff
So here in Bluff I've settled down
Never again will I leave this town
Never again will I go to sea
Never again will it see me!
        CHORUS (x2)

Bluff is New Zealand's southernmost town, known today for an annual Oyster Festival.